Smart Home a Blind Alley?

Though the smart home concept is far from new, it has continued to elude wider scale adoption, despite the maturing of both home automation and broadband communications technologies, according to Frost & Sullivan. The industry appears to be driving a renewed interest as companies seek new revenue opportunities by exploiting the near-universal interest in smart innovation, particularly in urban environments. However, unless crucial challenges are addressed, Frost & Sullivan believes that history may simply repeat itself.According to a survey conducted by Frost & Sullivan with more than 1,000 households across the United States and Canada in 2011, only 28% of homeowners are interested in smart home solutions. Further, respondents indicate that they were unwilling to pay more than $30 a month for smart home solutions. The results of the survey suggest that people today perceive the smart home to have a negative price-value relationship. Moreover, the supplier market for smart home applications is extremely fragmented and most players offer only partial solutions.