Appealing to the Masses: What a Fragmented Smart Home Sector Must do to go Mainstream in 2020

We all have a friend that is first to invest in the latest tech gadget, but the exponential growth in new, innovative products across the smart home sector – from smart toilets and kettles, to smart litter bins and curtains – has left many a technophile checking their bank balance.

From hundreds of exhibitors who released or upgraded smart home products at CES 2020 earlier this year, to the smart home movers and shakers who greeted visitors at ISE in Amsterdam with their one-stop-shop smart home offering, the proliferation of new smart home products, connected to the IoT, has been startling. This has been further amplified by major tech heavyweights, including Amazon and Google, now offering comprehensive smart home offerings. But how far are we from smart, interoperable homes becoming the norm? And more importantly, what are the challenges that stand in the industry’s way?

Date Published: 11 Mar 2020

Consumer Electronics

About the author

Julian Issa

Julian Issa is Futuresource Consultancy’s lead analyst in intelligent home and vision. His work at Futuresource has focused on identifying how global dynamics and new technologies are shaping smart consumer trends, as well as forecasting the trajectory and potential success of smart home devices across different markets.

His latest work in intelligent home has looked to identify opportunities presented by a subscription business model and how the global pandemic has shifted consumer perception of smart devices. Julian was previously an analyst and director at Global Business Reports where he lived and worked across six continents investigating the latest trends and business models impacting the smart tech, biotech, and industrial tech industries.

Julian received an M.Sci from the University of Bristol, UK, where he specialized in geopolitics and environmental policy. An alumni scholar of the Guildhall School of Music & Drama, Julian spent 3 years singing opera semi-professionally.