Table of Contents
Scope and Themes
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- What you need to know
- Definition
- Consumer survey data
- Abbreviations and terms
- Abbreviations
- Terms
Executive Summary
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- Key points
- Stars are aligning for the smart home
- A smart home is a green home
- A smart home is well monitored
- A smart home has accessible media
- Mass-market retailers take aim at the category
- Cloud computing beneficial to the market
- A market of innovators
- Non-traditional advertising and marketing rules
- Consumers want to know their energy footprint
- Technomenities desired but purchases lag
- Home networks can be used more effectively
- Strong interest in using home security systems for more than intruders
- Youngest adults want to be on the cutting edge
- An opportunity for lesser-known brands
- Online blacks and Hispanics most willing to pay for smart home products
Insights and Opportunities
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- Demography favors products that help monitor the elderly, kids, pets
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- Figure 1: Presence of children in the household, by age of householder, 2008
- Creating “smart” ambassadors and evangelists
- Future-proofing and service opportunities
- Home economics—saving money on energy
- Facts and figures, not hyperbole
- Cloud-based services and phone-based OS
- Flexible solutions
- The “wow” factor
- The television as a communication platform
- Look Ma, no wires
- Fewer products in the home
- Partnerships between hardware, communications, and software providers
Inspire Insights
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- Water Conservation
- The trend:
- The opportunity
- Tightening Up on a Power Diet
- The trend:
- The Sci-Fi Era
Competitive Context
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- From the high end to the low end
- The high end: Home builders and professionally installed systems
- Structured wiring on the decline, home theater rising
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- Figure 2: Ethernet and wireless transmission speeds, April 2009
- Figure 3: Home technologies installed in new homes, 2003-08
- The low end: Portable solutions
- The emergence of the phone app as a smart home device
- Will media servers and/or recorders end up in the cloud?
Market Drivers—General
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- Prevalence of home networks
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- Figure 4: Household communications equipment ownership, trended, 2002-08
- Home media servers
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- Figure 5: U.S. household home server adoption, 2005-12
- Enabling technologies make connectivity easier and cheaper
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- Figure 6: Enabling home automation protocols/technologies, 2009
- The “wow” factor
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- Figure 7: Profile of U.S. “Connected Home” consumers, 2008
- Home ownership
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- Figure 8: Number of U.S. households that own their home, 2000-07
- Figure 9: Home occupancy, by ownership or rental, 2007
- Economic downturn shakes consumer markets
- Economy faltering
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- Figure 10: U.S nominal GDP and inflation-adjusted GDP percent change, 2000-14
- Consumer electronics sales sagging
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- Figure 11: U.S. consumer electronics sales, 2004-09
- Glimmer of hope—many will spend on homes despite economic downturn
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- Figure 12: Willingness to spend on home in current economic environment, by age and household income, January 2009
Market Drivers—Energy Costs & Efficiency
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- Energy costs
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- Figure 13: U.S. average retail prices of residential electricity, at current prices, 2003-10
- Figure 14: U.S. average retail prices of residential electricity, at inflation-adjusted prices, 2003-10
- Aging electricity infrastructure
- Smart meters
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- Figure 15: U.S. households with smart meters, 2006-12
- Federal and state incentives to invest in the smart grid
- Consumer concerns about the environment continue to grow
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- Figure 16: Attitudes toward environmental concerns, October 2008
- Figure 17: Environmental behaviors, by age, October 2008
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- Figure 18: Personal commitment to reducing energy consumption, by age, January 2009
- Growing green can trump value
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- Figure 19: Willingness to invest in energy conservation products, by household income, January 2009
Market Drivers—Home Safety & Security
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- Low-cost DIY options
- Sales of security equipment rising rapidly
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- Figure 20: Sales of home security systems, 2004-09
- Crime
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- Figure 21: Property crime rates per 1,000 households, 2000-07
- Figure 22: Concern about home security, by age, January 2009
- At-risk seniors
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- Figure 23: Concern about elderly friends and relatives, by age, January 2009
- Households with young children
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- Figure 24: Presence and age of children, by age of householder, 2008
- Pets
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- Figure 25: Cat and dog ownership, by age, race/Hispanic origin, household income and presence of children, January-November 2007
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- Figure 26: U.S. pet ownership, 2001 and 2007
Market Drivers—Entertainment
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- Content driving the need for fast wireless networks
- Leveraging growth in wired/wireless home networks
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- Figure 27: Wired vs. wireless networks in the home, 2003-08
- Home networks as entertainment centers
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- Figure 28: Number of devices connected to home network, by device, August 2008
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- Figure 29: Ownership of devices for watching online video on the home television, by age, January 2008
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- Figure 30: Mean number of networked and total devices in the household, by product type, January 2009
- Income affects total products owned but has less impact on how many are networked
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- Figure 31: Mean number of networked and total devices in the household, by product type and household income, January 2009
- Network hardware that adds distribution functionality
- HP MediaSmart Server
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- Figure 32: HP Media Server
- Apple TV
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- Figure 33: Apple TV
- Slingbox
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- Figure 34: Slingbox
- Changing media habits and content everywhere
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- Figure 35: Weekly hours spent watching video, by media, November 2008
- Figure 36: Weekly hours spent listening to audio, by media, November 2008
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- Figure 37: Interest in viewing online video on the home TV, by age, January 2008
- Stored media content
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- Figure 38: Content storage on a PC, by age, November 2008
- Figure 39: Content storage on an MP3 player, by age, November 2008
- Leveraging investment in the living room flat screen
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- Figure 40: Screen size and spend on most recent TV purchase, by acquisition date, February 2007-March 2008
Distribution Channels
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- Specialist designers/installers
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- Figure 41: Type of home technologies offered by home builders, 2003-08
- Home security
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- Figure 42: Top 10 home security and installation companies, by residential customers, 2007
- Authorized dealers and specialty retailers
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- Figure 43: Top hybrid CE specialty retailers, by residential installation revenue, 2007
- Most consumers uncomfortable installing complicated electronics
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- Figure 44: Comfort with installing electronics, by gender, January 2009
- Mass-market retailers
- Best Buy
- Home Depot
- Amazon.com
- Walmart
- Target
Brand Qualities—Innovation and Innovators
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- Energy control and home automation
- Lutron
- Zensys/Z-Wave Alliance
- ZigBee Alliance
- General Electric
- Control4
- Security and home monitoring
- Skylink
- Hawking Technologies
- Kwikset
- Senstic
- Entertainment
- Sling Media
- Apple
- Microsoft
- Windows Media Center has a hold on consumers aged 18-24
- One in eight online respondents have used Windows Home Server
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- Figure 45: Familiarity with Windows home automation software, by age, January 2009
Advertising and Promotion
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- Overview
- Advertising—Home security and monitoring
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- Figure 46: Brinks: Intruder breaks in on girl whose parents are out, 2008
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- Figure 47: Brinks: Intruder breaks in on couple’s first night, 2008
- Figure 48: Brinks: Woman thinks date is early but it’s really a burglar, 2008
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- Figure 49: Time Warner Security: Non-stop monitoring and 24-hour emergency service, 2009
Interest and Penetration
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- Energy—Consumers want to know their energy footprint
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- Figure 50: Interest in products that will report energy consumption, by age, January 2009
- Energy product penetration is low; interest moderate
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- Figure 51: Purchase interest in energy-saving products, January 2009
- Technomenities: Desire is there but purchases not happening yet
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- Figure 52: Purchase interest in technomenities, January 2009
- Entertainment: Connected home still has a way to go
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- Figure 53: Purchase interest in entertainment products, January 2009
- Security and home monitoring—Potential beyond monitoring for intruders
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- Figure 54: Purchase interest in security and home-monitoring products, January 2009
The Decision-makers
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- High-priced item purchase decisions tend to be made jointly
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- Figure 55: Main or joint decision-maker for high-cost household purchases, by gender, January 2009
- Youngest adults least likely to make buying decisions, most likely to want smart homes
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- Figure 56: Main or joint decision-maker for high-cost household purchases, by age, January 2009
Selected Home Technology Ownership
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- Ownership profile
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- Figure 57: CE hardware ownership, by household income, race/Hispanic origin and presence of children, June 2007-September 2008
- Ownership by type of residence
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- Figure 58: Household ownership of consumer electronics, by type of residence, June 2007-September 2008
Attitudes and Motivations
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- Youngest adults on the cutting edge
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- Figure 59: Attitudes and behaviors regarding technology, by age, January 2009
- Higher-income households research unfamiliar brands
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- Figure 60: Attitudes and behaviors regarding technology, by household income, January 2009
Cluster Analysis
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- Smarties
- Who they are
- Opportunity
- The Reserved
- Who they are
- Opportunity
- The Obtuse
- Who they are
- Opportunity
- Cluster characteristics
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- Figure 61: Smart home clusters, January 2009
- Figure 62: Attitudes related to smart home products, January 2009
- Figure 63: Smart home product/service currently owned or interested in purchasing, by clusters, January 2009
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- Figure 64: Smart home product/service currently owned, by clusters, January 2009
- Figure 65: Interest in purchasing smart home products/services, by clusters, January 2009
- Cluster demographics
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- Figure 66: Smart home clusters, by gender, January 2009
- Figure 67: Smart home clusters, by age, January 2009
- Figure 68: Smart home clusters, by HH income, January 2009
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- Figure 69: Smart home clusters, by Hispanic origin, January 2009
- Cluster methodology
Custom Consumer Groups
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- Energy-saving products
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- Figure 70: Purchase interest in energy-saving products, by custom consumer groups, January 2009
- Technomenities
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- Figure 71: Purchase interest in technomenities, by custom consumer groups, January 2009
- Entertainment products
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- Figure 72: Purchase interest in entertainment products, by custom consumer groups, January 2009
- Security and monitoring
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- Figure 73: Purchase interest in security and home-monitoring products, by custom consumer groups, January 2009
Race/Hispanic Origin
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- Online blacks and Hispanics more willing to pay for automation
- Energy-saving products
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- Figure 74: Willingness to pay to own energy-saving products, by race/Hispanic origin, January 2009
- Technomenities
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- Figure 75: Willingness to pay for technomenities, by race/Hispanic origin, January 2009
- Entertainment products
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- Figure 76: Willingness to pay for entertainment products, by race/Hispanic origin, January 2009
- Security and home monitoring
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- Figure 77: Willingness to pay for security and home-monitoring products, by race/Hispanic origin, January 2009
Appendix: Other Useful Tables
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- Networked printers in the home
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- Figure 78: Mean number of networked and all printers in the household, by household income, January 2009
Appendix: Trade Associations and Research Firms
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