Over the past couple of years, numerous tech advancements have led to an increase in the popularity of smart home devices, as smart home statistics reveal. Generally, this term refers to the use of network-connected hardware within a home, such as sensors, lights, and a variety of appliances (many of which are connected to the Internet-of-Things). These devices can be accessed, monitored, and controlled remotely while responding to a variety of user needs.
Consequently, smart homes increase user comfort through automation. This article will try to shed some new light on smart homes and the insurance industry as a whole.
So, continue reading to find out all you need to know about this topic.
The Most Intriguing Smart Home Industry Stats and Facts
- 47% of US-based Millennials have at least one smart home product within their homes.
- Voice assistants seem to be one of the most popular advancements of the smart home sector, seeing how a whopping 555 million VA devices will reach homes by 2024.
- By 2027, the IoT market will yield over $520 billion in market revenue.
- 33 million North American houses rely on smart thermostats for temperature control.
- Approximately 90 million smart home and IoT units have been shipped worldwide by 2018.
Smart Homes Market Overview
1. Amazon holds the biggest market share in smart devices and is predicted to keep its position throughout 2021.
Amazon will definitely hold its market share position in smart devices through 2021. It has over 30% more market share in the smart home industry than the second biggest competitor, Google.
Almost 70% of US smart speaker owners currently use Amazon Echo devices and there are no signs that this will change anytime soon.
2. 8.2 million baby boomers owned smart speakers in 2018.
This huge number of 8.2 million baby boomers using smart speakers in 2018 amounts to 11.3% of all baby boomers. It is a 28.6% jump from the previous year’s 6.4 million or 8.7% of the total baby boomers using smart speakers in the US.
This is great in terms of smart home market growth but there are many baby boomers who are not using smart speakers. This is simply because they find it difficult to overcome the notion that a smart speaker in their home will eavesdrop and listen to all their private conversations.
3. 57% of the people who use smart devices say they save time.
According to connected home market size and survey data, 57% of smart home device users in the US say they save time every day. They say these devices save them an average of almost 30 minutes every day.
The remaining 43% of users in the US say that these devices made no difference in saving time in their daily lives and they did not experience any such benefits because of them.
4. Smart security systems cut down home insurance rates.
Smart home market research suggests that consumers with smart security systems reduce the likelihood of their homes being burglarized or suffer from costly fire or water damage issues. This also reflects in their home insurance rates.
Insurance companies favor smart security systems and monitoring devices because they reduce overall risks, which is why they incentivize homeowners to install them. On average, you can get up to a 20% reduction in your home insurance rates if you install monitored safety devices and smart security systems.
5. Smart heating and cooling systems can save smart home users 50% in energy use.
It is important to save energy to protect the environment and minimize monitory costs. Smart heating and cooling systems allow users to save energy through monitoring and effectively controlling usage.
Automation from smart homes allows us to limit usage and eliminate the need for physical involvement, making saving energy easier. Smart home market research shows that smart heating and cooling systems save users 50% of their energy consumption.
6. 40.8% of smart homes have at least one device vulnerable to cyber attacks that can put the whole home in danger.
The Avast 2019 Smart Home Security report, which conducted a vast smart home market analysis, shows that 40.8% of smart homes have at least one device vulnerable to cyber attacks. This can put the entire home in danger.
It also showed that routers are the most vulnerable, at 59.7% in the connected home market across the world. This data, paired with the smart home market forecasts of the growth and worldwide adoption of smart home devices, suggests that cyber attack vulnerability on entire smart homes will only increase.
7.In 2016, the global smart home market was valued at roughly $55.6 billion.
Do keep in mind that this happened in a time where smart home hardware was still fairly new to the market. Nowadays, the popularity of internet-connected and automated appliances has grown considerably; hence, the overall value of the market is somewhat higher.
Source: Marketwatch
8. Reports indicate that by 2025 the worldwide smart home market will reach $174.24 billion.
This smart home industry stat makes a lot of sense, given the fact that more and more people are considering the idea of automating their homes. After all, smart home tech leads to increased comfort, security, and convenience. Similarly, this technology is also bound to increase energy efficiency, as we will see later on.
Source: Marketwatch
9. Studies show that about 47% of US-based Millennials have at least one smart home product within their smarter homes.
As such, the popularity of this market is currently at its all-time high, since more and more people are looking to automate their homes. After all, 57% of Americans believe that this technology saves them at least 30 minutes on a daily basis.
Source: Rochester Real Estate
10. A recent survey shows that about 81% of real estate purchasers would be more inclined to buy a house if it came along with smart technology products.
Therefore, we can easily conclude that there is an appeal for smart home hardware in the US. In fact, such devices are considerably more popular here when compared to other regions of the world, such as Europe. Nevertheless, the trend is actively expanding worldwide.
Source: Rochester Real Estate
11. Smart home-related revenue is most prevalent in the US, China, the UK, Germany, and Japan.
According to Statista, the market for new tech for homes has actively grown in these regions, where billions of dollars’ worth of revenue have been recorded thus far. $23,577 million have been recorded in the US, followed by $16,241 million in China, $4,127 million in the UK, $4,113 million in Germany, and $3,814 million in Japan. However, in the near future, revenue will increase in other countries as well.
Source: Statista
Smart Technology for Homes — Key Advancements
12. Voice assistants seem to be one of the most popular advancements of the smart home business, granted that 555 million VA devices will reach homes by 2024.
At the moment, voice assistants developed by Amazon and Apple seem to be the most popular (Amazon Alexa accounts for 62% of the market). However, Chinese competitors like Baidu and iFlytek are quickly gaining their own portion of the market share, especially in Asian countries where the smart home market share is actively growing.
Source: Juniper Research
13. Samsung, Alphabet, and Amazon have market superiority in terms of smart home security solutions.
As you may know, the smart home sector also includes a variety of security solutions, such as remotely-accessed/controlled cameras or intrusion sensors.
Source: Juniper Research
14. Over 2.4 million Wi-Fi light bulbs and lamps were sold by 2013, according to smart home statistics.
The same study shows that the number is bound to reach the 100 million mark next year. As such, we can conclude that wireless light appliances represent one of the key advancements of this industry, given the fact that they allow users to remotely control their lights (switch on, switch off, timing, colors, etc.).
Source: InnoTechToday
15. Car internet connectivity is also actively growing, since 23 million cars were internet-enabled in 2013, as indicated by Millennials technology statistics.
Furthermore, it is believed that this number will surpass 152 million in 2020. Car-based internet connectivity can significantly improve driver comfort, as it allows efficient navigation, music streaming or over-the-air updates. Similarly, this technology is essential for future autonomous vehicles, which must communicate with one another.
Source: InnoTechToday
16. 63% of homebuyers want smart locks and alarms, 63% want smart fans and thermostats, 58% want smart lights, and 56% want carbon monoxide detectors.
These best-selling smart home products will continue growing in popularity, as security, heating/cooling, lighting, and gas safety represent priorities for homebuyers. The demand for other smart appliances such as voice assistants, security cameras, IoT devices, and automation is also increasing, according to most industry reports. In the near future, smart homes will likely include all types of hardware that can communicate and work towards improving the environment at home.
Source: Alarms
Smart Home Technology Examples
To get a better idea of the industry, we think it’s best if we exemplify some of the most common uses of smart home technology.
– Automation: this category includes numerous types of appliances, all of which are designed to make homeowners’ lives easier. For instance, pets can be fed using automated feeders, whereas plants can be watered through pre-installed systems that are based on automated timers. Other relevant examples of WiFi gadgets for the home include automated coffee brewers, which can make coffee as soon as your alarm rings in the morning. Similarly, the market also offers IoT-based refrigerators that monitor stock and expiration dates. Automated vacuum cleaners or connected washing machines and dryers also exist.
– Smart lights: this category is one of the most wide-spread at the moment. Smart lighting systems can, in fact, detect when people are present in a room, which is usually the case with a smart house of 2018 and beyond. Similarly, such systems can also change light color hues based on the time of the day, or if there is music playing. The possibilities are endless.
– Smart TVs: nowadays, TVs are used less and less for watching standard cable programs. Rather, they have become full-fledged computers that facilitate the online streaming of video or music.
– Smart thermostats: temperature control is yet another problem that is taken care of through the use of smart house devices. Nest thermostats, for instance, are Wi-Fi enabled, allowing home-owners to control heating and cooling via their mobile devices. Such appliances can also be scheduled, and are able to use machine learning to study the behavior and preferences of users. Thus, your house will always be at the right temperature.
– Smart locks: these devices can help increase house security, while also making it more convenient to unlock doors or grant access to potential visitors. Analysts believe that smart locks will be a part of all smart houses of the future.
– Smart security cameras: yet another security appliance, smart cameras can be accessed and controlled from anywhere in the world. They also send out notifications when movement is detected. In fact, such systems can also call law enforcement if needed.
– Sensing systems: these systems are meant to increase overall household security, by detecting gas leaks, or electric surges. For instance, the smart home industry has led to the appearance of devices that sense carbon monoxide leaks, sound alarms and send notifications to your smartphone. In the case of electric surges, such systems are able to turn off electric appliances in the house. Other sensors detect water leaks, preventing the likelihood of flooding, especially in areas that are not often accessed, such as basements.
Smart Home Demographics
17. Reports indicate that males are more likely to be early adopters of smart home technology.
With this in mind, a recent study shows that 57% of smart home adapters are, in fact, males, whereas only 43% are females. The difference isn’t too high, hence we can conclude that women are also very much interested in this technology. Based on this, future home automation statistics will likely not be gender relevant.
Source: MarketingCharts
18. One-quarter of Americans own smart home technology.
From a demographic standpoint, it seems that Millennials are most likely to purchase such technology; 44% of them own at least one smart home device. 33% of Gen Xers own smart house devices, while only 24% of people aged 55 and older are interested in such devices, or in the US smart home market for that matter.
Source: MarketingCharts
19. A study has reported that roughly 44% of smart home tech adopters are parents with children younger than 18 years of age.
This makes sense, granted that children often encourage their parents to purchase new types of technology. At the same time, parents of young children are more likely to invest in smart house devices, due to the obvious security and safety benefits. As such, numerous statistics conclude that the future smart home technology market is also fuelled by safety concerns.
Source: MarketingCharts
20. IoT integrations have also increased in the business market, as 93% of surveyed enterprises have implemented IoT systems by the end of 2019.
Based on this, such devices are not only suitable for home-usage. Rather, they can also increase the quality of life for employees working out of offices, as indicated by smart home statistics.
Source: ArubaNetworks
21. Here is a chart explaining the impact of income over the interest in smart home devices:
| Income Brackets | Interest in Purchasing Smart Home Entertainment Devices | Interest in Purchasing Voice Assistants | Interest in Purchasing Smart Home Utility Devices | Interest in Purchasing Smart Home Security Devices |
| top (25%) income bracket | 69% | 45% | 45% | 44% |
| mid (50%) income bracket | 62% | 38% | 35% | 35% |
| bottom (25%) income bracket | 48% | 27% | 24% | 24% |
Therefore, we can easily determine that higher-income individuals are significantly more likely to see the utility associated with smart home devices, thus purchasing such appliances. A smart home technology future analysis dictates that in the long-term, people with lower incomes will also begin buying smart home tech.
Source: Global Web Index
Fascinating Statistics Concerning the Internet-of-Things (IoT)
22. By 2027, the IoT market will yield over $520 billion in market revenue.
This statistic helps explain exactly why companies throughout the world have directed significant resources for the research and development of IoT-enabled devices. Without a doubt, the future of smart home technology looks bright.
Source: Statista
23. Approximately 90 million smart home and IoT units have been shipped worldwide until 2018.
The same statistic shows that this number is bound to continue growing over the next couple of years, as the popularity of IoT continues to increase. Privacy and cybercrime concerns for IoT and smart home devices could negatively impact the trend however; consumers do not want the future homes of America to be controlled and monitored by devices that disregard user privacy.
Source: Statista
24. 33 million North American houses rely on smart thermostats for temperature control.
Recent trends indicate that the popularity of smart thermostats is also growing in other regions of the world — especially in Europe and Asia. Most of these thermostats only control heating.
Source: Statista
25. Reports indicate that 127 new IoT devices are connected to the internet every second.
This statistic helps put the massive size of the IoT market into perspective. Businesses, homes, and government entities are actively purchasing and connecting such devices so the home smart devices number is quickly growing.
Source: McKinsey
26. By 2023, the internet infrastructure will support over 3.5 billion active IoT connections.
As such, we can clearly see why telecommunication companies are actively pushing for the implementation of 5G technology, which is significantly more capable of supporting this many connections when compared to the standard WiFi and 4G protocols.
Source: Ericsson
Smart Homes and the Insurance Industry
Based on everything that has been highlighted thus far in our smart home statistics, these devices will soon make their way into every house on the globe. From a theoretical standpoint, smart home appliances should reduce monthly insurance premiums for your home insurance coverage. The argument behind this claim is that security sensors reduce the likelihood of burglary, whereas fire, water or gas leakage sensors are meant to give homeowners a pre-warning before disaster strikes.
