Z-Wave Alliance Trumpets Progress; Membership Surpasses 325 Companies

In a midyear update Tuesday, the Z-Wave Alliance said it has certified 1,350 Z-Wave products and has a total of 40 million units in the market. Membership, it said, passed 325 companies. The smart home industry is on track to reach $58.68 billion revenue by 2020, said the alliance, citing Markets and Markets, and is being driven by security products and smart locks. Z-Wave products now are 90 percent of that segment, it said. The alliance stopped short of making a HomeKit announcement but alluded in a statement to Apple’s recently held Worldwide Developers Conference 15 and the news that iOS 9 will support HomeKit. "Z-Wave already has the largest footprint in the security industry,” said Z-Wave Alliance board member Avi Rosenthal. “Every major player is an active member of the Z-Wave Alliance and developing on the Z-Wave standard," he said. "We project that with HomeKit entering the market and Z-Wave as the largest available smart home ecosystem at retail today, consumers will naturally migrate to what is known, proven and popular, and Z-Wave will continue to dominate the smart home." Rosenthal’s statement was toned down from statements last week made by Sigma Designs Chief Financial Officer Elias Nader on an earnings call (see 1506100003) in which he said would-be Z-Wave adopters “will be encouraged by Apple to tie into the Z-Wave ecosystem.” Nader said “Apple has embraced Z-Wave as a part of the experience that they want to deliver to customers.” That will mean a “big advantage for Z-Wave,” because that platform will have “greatest worldwide footprint” in the IoT space “of anybody else out there,” Nader said. The alliance didn’t comment on how Apple will encourage customers to adopt Z-Wave.