In his recent Sensors Insight article titled “Consumers want Smart Systems Not Smart Things”, founder and CEO of GreenPeak Cees Links points out several reasons why consumers aren’t lining up to purchase smart-home products. He cites one cause as OEMs’ confusion over the ever changing and conflicting status of Smart Home and IoT connectivity standards. What’s it going to be today? Wi-Fi? Bluetooth? ZigBee? Which do consumers prefer?
The second reason he points out is that consumers don’ want things, they want solutions. End users don’t want or have the time to research sensors, hubs, cloud options, connectivity standards, etc. They don’t want to figure out where and how to install sensors and manually configuring the other devices. Bottom line, they simply want to turn it on and have it work.
Backing up Mr. Cees observations is a recent survey conducted by support.com that supports the premise that makers of smart home devices need to make user-friendliness a prime feature of their devices.
According to the survey, about 31% of smart home system owners claim setup is far too complex. In terms of possible untapped or lost revenue, 43% of potential smart home device buyers are concerned about how complex setting up the system might be. Also, the survey finds 67% of potential buyers say the cost to buy, set-up, and maintain a system is the primo barrier to taking the plunge into home automation.
Briefly other survey findings indicate 37% percent of users installed smart-home devices on their own and 61% want to fix issues on their own, ala self-service. On the other side, 43% of potential buyers are willing to pay a one-time fee for professional installation.
In conclusion, it’s clear that consumers want reliable smart-home products that are easy to install, configure, and operate. They also want to maintain these systems on their own. This just gives you one more reason for attending Sensors Expo 2016 where you will learn all the ins, outs, and tricks of smart-home devices. ~MD