technology

Consumers Showing Affinity For Smart Home Products

Though still relatively minor in terms of overall penetration, home automation is catching on with consumers. 

According to research from The NPD Group, 15% of American households with internet own a home automation device, up from 10% in April 2016. Dollar sales meanwhile, are up 43%, led by growth in security and monitoring devices, and strong gains in video doorbells (up 123%) and smart lighting (up 83%). 

The gateway to home automation, it seems, is through voice-activated wireless speakers (of which ownership has tripled in the past year). More than a third (36%) of smart home device owners have a voice-activated speaker and more than half (57%) of Google Home owners said they bought their first home automation product after owning a speaker. (The same holds true for 48% of Amazon Echo owners.)

Not surprisingly, younger consumers are most likely to own voice-activated wireless speakers and a home automation device. However, 11% of consumers 35-54 have a voice-enabled speaker (up from 7% last year; ownership among those 55+ grew to 6% from 1% in 2016).  

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“The voice-enabled speaker market is expanding quickly,” said Ben Arnold, executive director and industry analyst for The NPD Group, in a statement. “As sales of these devices continue to grow, and more voice-enabled applications are developed, the use case for intelligent voice speakers, particularly as it relates to home automation devices, will continue to expand.”

1 comment about "Consumers Showing Affinity For Smart Home Products".
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  1. R MARK REASBECK from www.USAonly.US , October 13, 2017 at 7:36 p.m.

    I'm a baby Boomer.  The only "voice activated" devise I know among friends is their spouse. I have 5 adult kids (46-32) and only one has  an echo.  I know hudreds of people and I know of non of these.  We are the last generation who don't need catered to or mothered.   This crap is laziness to the third power, and intrusive beyond imigination.
    When you say sales are up 36% does that mean they sold 100 last year, now 136?

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