Alarm.com's Global Business Development SVP Reed Grothe expressed confidence in the growth of smart home adoption in various parts of the world at ISC West 2019.
The U.S. is still the bellwether. “I think the U.S. market is fairly advanced in terms of the adoption of smart home. A lot of other markets are a few years behind,” Grothe said. The country is characterized by the availability of many
standalone products like smart lock and smart garage door. Alarm.com is kind of popular in the U.S. because it offers a platform in which different products can be integrated to work as a holistic system, Grothe said.
Adoption is also gaining traction in Europe and Latin America.
Energy control has been a focus in Europe, and thanks to the region’s relatively high GDP and per capita income, smart home popularity is expected to grow, especially in Western Europe. The UK, Netherlands, Belgium and Scandinavian countries have good potential, according to Andrew Dickison, International Business Development Associate at Alarm.com.
In Latin America, there is a trend toward integrating smart home hardware with
security solutions. Smart home hardware was not very much supported, but it has now become “an easy upsell” for security dealers, who can now add smart lighting, smart thermostats, etc. on top of existing security services for their customers, Grothe said.
Latin America also has a need for energy monitoring. Energy and water are somewhat costly in the deregulated market, and the utility eats into a big portion of people’s income. To manage utility consumption is therefore a driver for smart home adoption.
Turnkey business solution
Alarm.com provides a smart platform tailored for homes and small and medium-sized businesses in over 40 countries around the world. It is present in many countries in Latin America as well as Europe. In Asia, it has presence in Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore. “We foresee that smart home will certainly be adopted more and more around the globe,” Grothe said.
Due to the differences in regulatory requirement in each country, the hardware will need to be pre-configured accordingly. For example, Z-Wave specifications for security solutions vary in different countries. As a result, hardware features will differ a lot based on the markets, Grothe noted.
As part of the effort to increase its global footprint, Alarm.com has become more and more involved in the commercial sector, targeting especially small and medium-sized companies. The company provides integrated, turnkey and easy-to-use solutions that entails access control, automation and security all in one platform.
Alarm.com’s platform may also integrate solutions spread out in multiple locations. However, the commercial solution is not meant for sophisticated, large-scale enterprise building control, Grothe pointed out.
Subscription-based services continue to grow
Alarm.com initially focused on providing security solutions like intrusion detection and video monitoring, before expanding its services to home automation, energy management, home care, etc. Alarm.com bundles different services into subscription-based packages and works with clients in security, utility, telecom and insurance industries to provide the backend for their
smart home services.
Alarm.com is confident about the future outlook. “Subscription fees for smart home have grown steadily,” Grothe said.“Our projectionsare good for the next couple of years, we don’t really see a lot of risk other than if there is significant economic downturn.”