In the previous article we reviewed the smart home market for 2023. In this article, we look at smart home trends for 2024.
In the previous article we
reviewed the smart home market for 2023. In this article, we look at smart home trends for 2024, especially in the following areas.
Home security
Security will continue to be a major element in smart home next year. In particular, home monitoring services, which have been gaining traction in recent years, are expected to gather more steam in the smart home arena.
“More companies, especially those in the U.S., will develop new month-to-month subscription-based home monitoring services to counter the declines in camera hardware prices,” said Jack Narcotta, Principal Analyst for Smart Home at Omdia. “Home security will continue to be much more popular in the U.S. than in Europe or APAC, though brands will continue to try and crack the codes in the latter two regions, albeit with limited success.”
AI for smart home
AI has already found its way into the home, especially in the form of voice recognition technology. Asking Alexa (Amazon’s voice assistance) or Google to play a song or perform a task has become more and more common. But for more advanced AI to come into play in the home, users may need to wait a bit longer.
“Alexa is slated to get a huge series of upgrades to make it more conversational and intuitive when it comes to smart home interactions. Beyond that, AI (especially the hype around ChatGPT and generative AI) and the smart home are worlds apart. I don’t expect AI as it exists in other technology segments to become a part of the smart home conversation for at least five years. The AI that will be utilized in the smart home will be very rudimentary compared to the generative AI present in other technology sectors,” Narcotta said.
Energy efficiency
Needless to say, homeowners are placing a stronger focus on
energy efficiency amid high energy high prices. In this regard, AI can now play a central role. “This is is one area where AI could make an impact over the next few years, especially with regards to distributing energy stored or generated by a home’s battery or generator or heat pump. Creating a thermodynamic profile of the home with a group of AI-powered sensors and hubs could help brands make big leaps forward when it comes to offering whole-home energy management solutions, not just analyzing past usage for patterns and trends,” Narcotta said.
Health monitoring
According to Narcotta, on paper it seems like the smart home should have conquered this category by now, though it remains very elusive. “I think [it’s] largely because there are many regulations with regards to medical practices and patient data privacy. In 2024 smart home devices are more likely to stay their current course, offering off-the-shelf solutions to monitor or try to improve air quality, better manage a home’s heating and cooling cycles, and enable basic monitoring of elderly or sick patients using sensors and cameras,” he said.
Integration between smart home devices
Smart home is all about integration between various IoT devices. Unlocking the door to activate smart lightbulbs and smart speaker is just one example. This trend is likely to continue into next year.
“Matter is among the key ingredients for integration to occur, though in 2024 independent efforts by Zigbee, Z-Wave, Bluetooth, and Wi-Fi will continue to march forward. 2024 may be a renaissance of sorts for the smart home hub, as those devices will bear the bulk of burden of connecting and managing the different devices in a consumer’s home,” Narcotta said.
Cybersecurity
Finally, cybersecurity issues can have a strong impact on the smart home as well. Already, we’ve seen numerous reports on baby cams being
hacked by hostile actors. Indeed, cybersecurity for the smart home is an area in which more efforts can be made.
“It’s a focus for the largest brands, though not yet a widespread concern for consumers. Most of the initiatives undertaken by brands to implement stronger cybersecurity are done to be in compliance with regulations or legislation that are at national levels becoming more stringent, such as the US Cyber Trust Mark and efforts in Europe like GDPR and others. Unfortunately, for most brands complying with cybersecurity regulations beyond the letter of the law is very far down on their list of priorities. This does put consumers at risk, though as we’ve seen consumers and legislative bodies have short memories,” Narcotta noted.