Sector Roadmap: Smart home platforms

1. Summary

A wide variety of companies are seeking to capitalize on the huge potential of the smart home market. Some are partnering with service providers eager to obtain or retain new customers. Others are intent on becoming the mechanism by which the consumer can tie together a multitude of popular, yet disparate devices. Bigger names – Apple and Google – now seem set to compete with these companies and vie for a piece of the action.

Vendors and buyers in this space must be aware of key disruptors that will shake up the market in coming years. Those forces include the mainstreaming of the DIY movement; the increasing importance of Bluetooth and Wi-Fi; consumer adoption of connected lighting; the rise of alternative hubs from Apple and Google; sensory overload driving users to abandon complex tools; and the possibility of protocol/radio standardization.

Key findings in this Sector Roadmap^TM include:

• The next wave of the smart home will manage itself with minimal human interaction.
• Bluetooth and Wi-Fi will play an increasingly important role in the market.
• Protocol standardization won’t happen overnight, but vendors are optimistic about Thread.
• Future hub technology could be embedded in a set top box, TV, gaming console or some other new device.
• Next-generation platforms must be able to abstract devices to streamline onboarding.

Key:

• Number indicates companies relative strength across all vectors
• Size of ball indicates company’s relative strength along individual vector

Source: Gigaom Research

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