Many research institutes have predicted substantial growth for the smart home market in the near future. Driven by the demand for more efficient energy management, Europe will realize the fastest growth in smart home adoption, according to a report recently published by Mordor Intelligence.
Many research institutes have predicted substantial growth for the smart home market in the near future. Driven by the demand for more efficient energy management, Europe will realize the fastest growth in smart home adoption, according to a report recently published by Mordor Intelligence.
The threat of climate change and fluctuating energy prices have pushed governments across the globe to adopt more sustainable energy policies. In the private sector, people in Europe are voluntarily replacing standard meters with smart meters in high volumes in recent years.
Many countries in Europe have introduced initiatives to cut down energy consumption. In Germany, a target to reduce primary energy use by 20% by 2020 has been set, which is driving the deployment of smart grids and smart home infrastructure in the country.
The UK has issued the mandate to have utility companies install smart meters in 26 million homes, with the aim of putting a smart meter in every household in England, Wales and Scotland by 2020.
“The accelerating smart meter roll-out, growing awareness of the energy crisis, coupled with the European directive to reduce 80% of carbon emission by 2050, the UK smart home market is expected to see a significant growth over the forecast period,” says Mordor Intelligence.
Italy, Russia, France and Germany will lead the HVAC market, thanks to local consumers’ increasing awareness and higher purchasing power.
With the world’s population continuing to expand, the demand for energy will also grow. This gives rise to smart energy management technologies that help utilities anticipate loads better, reduce costly infrastructure development and improve their services.
Smart energy management also goes hand-in-hand with the use of solar energy. “Smart grid, energy management and energy storage systems will become the key considerations for PV system developers,” says research company TrendForce. “They will need to achieve effective energy storage to balance loads of power plants and stabilize the overall power quality in connection with grids and power plants.”
5G to drive smart home adoption
Another trend that we can expect in 2019 is the rollout of 5G services. Deployment of the communication infrastructure has been ongoing in the past few years. “The 5G architecture has been gradually expanded from backbone network to metropolitan area network and access network, providing 5G-compatible bandwidth at a low cost,” says TrendForce.
“Commercialization of 5G is expected to roll out in 2019, with 5G telecom services to be launched in United States, South Korea, Japan, and China. Smartphones and other devices supporting 5G technology are also expected to be available some time in 2019,” TrendForce says.
The arrival of faster network is likely to boost the demand for high resolution 4K/8K video, mobile AR/VR gaming, IoT devices, autonomous-driving vehicles, etc.
Smart routers and gateways
IHS Markit points out that routers and gateways embedded with voice assistants and smart home radio-frequency technology will gain more traction in 2019. Comcast in the U.S. has also launched the xFi Advanced Gateway with smart home features. Deutsche Telecom in Germany launched the Speedport Smart router earlier this year and is expected to soon introduce its third-generation model with even more smart home features.