The number of smart homes in Europe and North America reached 120,5-million in 2022, according to new research from Berg Insight.
North America is the leading market in terms of penetration and 39,2% of all households in the region had at least one smart home product or system at the end of the year which equals 57,5-million smart homes. During 2022, the number of smart homes in North America grew by 12% year-on-year. The strong market growth is expected to continue in the next five years. By 2027, Berg Insight estimates that about 88,1-million homes in North America will be smart, equal to 58% of all homes in the region.
The European market is still somewhat behind the North America in terms of market penetration. There was a total of 63,1-million smart homes in Europe at the end of 2022. The number of smart homes in the region is forecast to reach about 112,8-million at the end of 2027 representing a market penetration of close to 47%.
The most popular smart home products include smart thermostats, smart light bulbs, smart security cameras, smart door locks, smart plugs and smart speakers. These products have sold in the hundreds of millions and are marketed by incumbent OEMs such as Signify, Resideo, Danfoss, Belkin, Chamberlain and Assa Abloy – and newer entrants such as Ecobee, Mysa, Nuki, Arlo, Netatmo and Wyze Labs.
The market for whole-home systems is served by traditional home automation specialists, home security providers, telecom operators and DIY solution providers.
On the North American market, interactive home security systems have emerged as one of the most common types of smart home systems. The largest home security providers include ADT, Vivint, Comcast and Telus. In Europe, traditional home automation systems and DIY solutions are more common as whole-home systems. eQ-3, Centrica, Verisure and Somfy are estimated to be the largest vendors of whole-home systems in the region.
The installed base of whole-home systems in Europe and North America amounted to 26,5-million systems and 35,7-million systems respectively at the end of 2022.
The smart home market continues to grow as more consumers realise the value of connected products and systems. Developments of new products and services, as well as connectivity standards that facilitate setup and control of devices from different vendors are also fostering growth in the market.
“The new Matter standard is likely to become a key driver for mass-market adoption of smart home devices in the coming few years,” says Martin Backman, principal analyst at Berg Insight. There are also other new industry collaborations, such as the Home Connectivity Alliance (HCA) for connected home appliances, that aim to simplify control of various devices for end users.
Surging electricity prices are also creating demand for smart home solutions that can help households reduce their electricity consumption.
“Smart ACs, heat pumps, thermostats, and other products that enable households to reduce expenditures are anticipated to increase in popularity over the coming years,” says Backman.