Parks Points

These “newbie” owners will help drive future sales of smart home devices, as Parks Associates research shows the number of smart home households that own multiple devices is trending upward. The industry as a whole will benefit from focusing on the 76% of non-owners, but until then, upsells, cross-sells, and expanded features that drive additional and replacement purchases among the existing owner base will be critical to expanding revenues.

The journey these multidevice households take is not monolithic -- there are many paths they can take when expanding their smart home “collection.” Thirteen percent of US broadband households have a home control system of some kind, but over one-third of newbies who own one to two smart home devices have a home control system. Some consumers purchase a home control system at the beginning of their smart home journey, while others experiment with a few standalone devices before purchasing a home control system. By the time a household has more than 10 devices, over 80% have a home control system.

Concerns of unauthorized access to smart home devices increases as the number of devices owned also increases. Those with five or more smart home devices feel more concerned about unauthorized access to their devices, while those with less than four devices express fewer concerns.

For more information on this topic, see Parks Associates’ 360 View: Smart Home Products and Services. This study identifies adoption of specific smart home products among and broadband households and consumer purchase intentions for 2019. The report examines consumer behavior to identify product capabilities consumers’ value the most and consumer preferences for control of smart home devices via voice control, smart home platforms, and hubs.