Thirty Percent of U.S. Broadband Households Plan To Buy Smart Bulb This Year, Says Parks

Some 30 percent of U.S. broadband households intend to buy a smart lightbulb by year-end, said a Parks Associates research report, while 17 percent plan to buy a smart kitchen appliance and 14 percent plan to buy a smart thermostat. The top five brands of lightbulb manufacturers -- GE, Philips Hue, Insteon, Belkin and Lifx -- have 78 percent of smart bulb market, it said. In addition to current use cases such as changing bulb colors, adding security tie-ins and creating scenes, smart bulb makers will experiment with new use cases in 2016, said Parks Associates President Stuart Sikes. Smart lighting will be discussed at Parks’ Smart Energy Summit, Feb. 22-24, in Austin.