The Matter smart home standard from the Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA), formerly the Zigbee Alliance, has been delayed until next year.

Companies that have signed up the standard include major players such as Amazon, Apple and Google.

In May this year, the CSA announced a development path that would have seen first devices through certification by the end of this year. With the completion of several test events and forecasting, it has updated the schedule to reflect a commitment to ensuring that the SDK (software development kit) and related tools are ready when launched and enable a large ecosystem of interoperable Matter products.

The refined plans include ongoing SDK and certification programme development in the second half of this year, targeting a pre-ballot version of the technical specification available to members at the end of the year.

In the first half of 2022, it expects to see the SDK released, the first devices through certification, and formal certification programme opening.

“Together with our members, we’ve updated these go-to-market plans to ensure the Matter specification, certification and testing tools, and of course the SDK, are stable, deployable at scale, and meet market expectations for quality and interoperability,” said Tobin Richardson, CEO of the CSA. “Our members continue to work hard to build these tools, and their own Matter products and we look forward to the first products and timelines revealed next year.”

The CSA is taking a code-first approach. It has always followed open standards development, but it says it has levelled up to give Matter global reach and a vision for further IoT standards consolidation under the CSA.

As such, it is using a GitHub repository to create an open-source reference design and SDK so companies can get product ideas to market faster, more reliably and more consistent with the standard.

“As we are breaking new ground, we’re learning lessons, but our community knows this is the right way to build the internet of things,” said Richardson. “I’m so impressed by the continued investment by so many to make Matter a success. We’ve seen active participation from member companies across the industry, driving the core specification, the budding certification programme, and marketing and industry outreach. It’s this active participation and contribution that continues to shape and refine our Matter plans.”