• by Chuck Martin , Staff Writer, April 17, 2017

Consumers are buying smart home devices but not as many as some would like.

Many tech-savvy consumers got in early over the last few years and the number of consumers who have the devices is not insignificant.

There are an estimated 39 million smart home devices currently installed in the U.S., according to a new BI Intelligence study. By 2022, that number is projected to grow to 73 million.

The study, comprising a survey of 900 millennials and business leaders in a U.S. panel, defines a smart home device as any standalone object found in the home that’s connected to the Internet, can be either monitored or controlled remotely and has a noncompeting primary function. As a result, this includes all smart appliances, security devices like smart locks and smart energy equipment, such as networked thermostats. 

Not everyone is even aware of smart home devices and what they can do, since advertising and marketing for many of the products has not yet reached significant scale.

Of course, there are other reasons consumers don’t buy smart home devices, most notably, cost. Here are the reasons consumers have not yet purchased smart home devices, based on the BII study:

• 32% -- Too expensive
• 21% -- Don’t see a device that fits my needs
• 17% -- Didn’t think would use it
• 8% -- Don’t trust the technology

There are essentially two categories of smart home system: those that are professionally installed that those that are more do-it-yourself like, as I wrote about here earlier this year (The Battle Of The Smart Home Systems).

That ‘too expensive’ barrier is significant. For example, the study notes that a Nest thermostat retails for $250 while a Honeywell thermostat costs $16.

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Smart home consumer behaviors will be discussed at the MediaPost IoT Marketing Forum May 18 in New York. Here’s the agenda.