Report: Smart home growth disrupting residential security, service industries

According to a new report from ABI Research, shipments of smart devices are expected to reach 252 million units by the end of 2018, which is up more than 55 percent from 2017. The research firm said that this double-digit, year-over-year growth is just the beginning for the burgeoning market, which will is forecast to see 467 million smart home devices shipments in 2023.

“Now, more than 70 million homes worldwide have one or more smart home devices,” Jonathan Collins, Research Director at ABI Research, said in a statement. “These devices and their continued adoption are a beachhead for smart home players to position themselves as key partners for new and existing home services and, in turn, draw new revenues from their smart home investment.”

The residential security industry has been particularly impacted by smart home market entrants. For example, Google’s Nest has partnered with Monitronics/Brinks to deliver monitored security, while Samsung’s SmartThings announced a similar partnership with ADT. While monitored security had been an early starting point for broader smart home adoption, especially in the U.S., ABI said smart home is now as likely to draw in new monitored security subscribers. The key difference, according to the research firm, is the smart home players’ new position at the heart of the new service.

“Key smart home protagonists, including Amazon, Apple, Google, and Samsung, have turned to smart home devices to expand and strengthen their existing core revenue streams. Increasingly, these and other smart home players will leverage their smart home customer relationships in order to become the gatekeeper for a host of industries looking to connect with consumers in those homes,” said Collins.

For more information about ABI Research’s “Smart Home and Service Integration” report, click here.