The home is getting smarter

13. December 2019 Published by Raphael Doerr

Smart home solutions is making everyday life easier in more and more households. A study on the subject “Smart home – Fact check and status quo” now confirms this trend with hard-and-fast numbers. Making your own four walls smart thanks to technology is no longer witchcraft these days.

What does “smart home” actually mean? It’s basically an umbrella term for refined networking and control of devices in the home in order to enhance the quality of life and living, security and efficiency in the use of energy. Smart home technologies are well thought-out, but still in their infancy. Yet the market is growing and more and more consumers are discovering the smart home.

Just about everyone has heard of the term “smart home”

The market is not only growing – the term “smart home” is also becoming more well-known. 6,500 consumers in five European countries were surveyed as part of a study by the company CONTEXT. Only 59% had heard of the term “smart home” in 2015, while that figure had risen to 89% in 2018. In response to the question “What would you like to do with your Internet connection at home?”, only very few (just 7%) said they wanted to be able to control their smart home remotely. Other activities like shopping (80%) or finances (65%) are miles ahead of the rest.

Why are there relatively few smart apartments and houses up to now? More than half (52%) say they don’t understand the products. A further reason is the cost, which puts off every one-in-three (34%). More than one-fifth of respondents (21%) have never discovered a smart home product in stores.

More and more is being spent on the smart home

Devices that are easy to understand and operate, such as thermostats, speakers or lights, are most popular among smart home users. The number of connected devices in the home has increased from an average of 5.8 (2016) to 7.5 (2017) and 8.1 (2018) components. That’s also reflected in sales: More and more of those surveyed spent between €251 and €1,000 on them.

As you can see, the market for smart home products and all-round service is growing and flourishing. Users are developing wishes and are willing to pay for them – up to €15 a month. The desire for security services, such as connection to security firms, was top of the list for 32% of respondents. Medical services came in second with 27%. In 2018, 26% of participants in the survey had no interest in such services.

One sentence is all it takes

Making your own home smart needn’t be complicated, as Gigaset’s Smart Home products prove. To give just one example from the company’s large product range: The Gigaset smart speaker lets you control all products that work with Alexa by voice. That means operating your Gigaset smart security alarm system, the radio or coffee maker is simple and convenient. Click here to be inspired by Gigaset’s Smart Home solutions.