Smart homes are like a broken bamboo, why is it still not mainstream?

Driven by artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, the smart home market is bright. Its producers have grown from the first few to more than 100. The speed of the industry is unmatched by any other industry in the country, whether it is foreign technology giants like Amazon, Apple, Google, or Internet giants such as Baidu, Ali and Tencent. They have launched smart home products such as smart speakers, smart air conditioners and smart TVs. "IDC China smart home equipment market quarterly tracking report" shows that the smart home market will reach 150 million units in 2018, an increase of 35.7%. Forward-looking Industrial Research Institute predicts that China's smart home market will reach 180 billion yuan in 2018 and 357.6 billion yuan in 2020.

One of the most popular benefits of smart homes is to give homeowners peace of mind, allowing them to remotely monitor their homes and prevent danger. For the user, especially the elderly, there are also great benefits. For example, in the case of surveillance, the elderly can live comfortably at home without going to a nursing home. If nothing unexpected, smart homes can fully meet the individual needs of users in the future.

However, there are still many shortcomings behind the development of the situation. In recent years, smart homes have been trying to become mainstream, but they have not succeeded. Xiaobian believes that the main reasons are as follows:

Poor operation and poor user experience

What we must admit is that the shortcoming of smart home is the complexity of use. This is also a problem that smart home manufacturers and technology giants are trying to solve, hoping to improve the user experience. Specifically, for smart homes to be truly effective, devices must be inter-connected, regardless of whether the manufacturers are the same, they must use the same protocol, or at least a complementary protocol. But since this is an emerging market, there is no specific standard yet, but technology giants and manufacturers are working together to ensure interoperability and a seamless user experience.

Safety is worrying

Another major issue is the security of smart homes. According to a report by NTT Data, a global IT service provider in 2016, 80% of US consumers are worried about the security of smart home data. In addition, 73% of consumers are concerned about the privacy of data shared by smart homes. Xinhua News Agency issued a document saying that the security of smart homes has been worrying. Some smart homes have been under the supervision of others for a long time. The "black-in" smart home devices have even become an "industry". Smart homes not only provide users with intelligent services, but also collect user information data. While manufacturers collect consumer data to provide better products and services, trust and transparency are critical to manufacturers and users who use their smart devices.

Lack of compatibility standards

There are many smart home brands in China, but there is a lack of compatible standards, and different smart homes are self-contained. Smart curtains, smart sockets, smart switches, smart cat eyes... There are more and more smart home products on the market, but because of incompatibility, users often need to download multiple APPs for differentiated control. Smart home products cannot be interconnected and systematically linked. Operation, so it is difficult to bring a good experience to the user. Smart home products must not only set technical standards, but also form market standards.

As the future sunrise industry, smart home will certainly become a hot spot for giants and consumers, but the development of the industry will inevitably experience a painful growth period. In the process of smart home growth, we should have more expectations. And can tolerate it continues to mature in the hustle and bustle.