The smart home market will outperform most other consumer device segments, achieving a global CAGR of 22% for 2019 to 2023, according to Futuresource Consulting.
 
After shipping 100m devices worldwide in 2018, smart home devices grew to 137m in 2019. This includes hubs and control devices, security and monitoring, climate control, lighting systems, and power.
 
Mature smart home markets such as North America are expected to grow on average 13% a year, whereas Eastern Europe is expected to see a 30% CAGR. Total APAC will see a comparable CAGR to Eastern Europe despite the Chinese market being forecast to grow slightly below that rate at 26%.
 
Key motivators for buying smart home devices are convenience, security, remote control and saving money.
 
The global pandemic has had a varying impact on the differing smart home product categories. For example, sales of smart water and smoke detectors have boomed, while smart security devices have seen a downturn. Futuresource expects smart security device sales to bounce back post-pandemic as consumers spend less time in their homes. Smart lighting has also seen a slight uptick in sales, in line with what was expected.
 
Security and monitoring remain the key use cases in smart homes. The category accounts for 60% of shipments in the industry and is a common first smart home step for households. Importantly, security devices, along with climate control, are the most likely to be provided to consumers through service providers.
 
DIY security and monitoring devices are increasingly designed to appeal to multi-dwelling consumers. One example is the peephole doorbell camera launched by Ring in 2019.
 
For the DIY-buying consumer, smart speakers and security devices remain the gateway products for attracting consumers into the smart home world. For a consumer looking to purchase a smart home device that has a bolt-on subscription and service model, the security video camera with recording capabilities is undoubtedly the gateway product, says the report.