Integrated connected home solutions are starting to see market traction, thanks to the steady increase in the adoption of connected home devices across the more developed regions around the globe. With more households featuring more than one connected device and given the nature of M2M devices that require separate end-user application for monitoring and managing these devices, the need for integrated platform is expected to see more M2M device/product makers working among themselves or with third party integrators to boost adoption.
While application integration is already taking place, Delta-ee, an Endinburg based research and consulting company points out to device level integration in the connected home M2M space. In its recent research, Delta-ee said that more and more connected home devices are starting to connect to other appliances in the home. Delta-ee's research found that smart thermostats alone recorded close to 500,000 installations in Europe in the last 2 years. With this level of adoption, Delta-ee is expecting integration at device level to become a key feature of future connected home solutions and expects more partnerships in this area.
More interestingly, the report showed that telecommunications service providers are making foray into the connected home segment, competing with energy companies and the likes of Google, Apple and Samsung to capitalize on the huge growth expected in this area. Early initiatives by service providers in this space include Deutsche telecom and its Qivicon platform and Orange's smart home products in the Polish market. More service providers are following suit to leverage the rapid growth in the M2M connections across home and industrial applications, building new revenue streams from providing connectivity and integrated platforms for device makers and end customers including commercial clients.
"Today, most products are largely 'point solutions' and relatively simple in terms of functionalities. We track over 50 offerings: an increasing number of these are starting to connect with other appliances in the home, and we expect the sophistication of these products to quickly improve.It is important to understand the value creation and the motivation of all the different players to make sense of this fast moving space. It can be hard to entice customers to pay for products and services today, but there are some attractive upstream values to be exploited. It'll be interesting to see who will be the first to crack this market".
- Arthur Jouannic, manager of the Delta-ee Connected Home Service
