Networked Cameras Account for 61% of Smart Home Purchases, Says NPD

Forty percent of consumers with interest in smart home technology ranked security and safety as the top purchase drivers, said an NPD report Wednesday. Network connected cameras generated 61 percent of all U.S. home automation industry revenue in the 12 months ending June, said NPD. In the 10 percent of U.S. homes considered smart, monitors and cameras lead smart home device purchases, while a third of homes have a security, motion, door or window sensor, said NPD. Eighty-one percent of networked camera owners use the device for security, and 53 percent use them for other monitoring activities for house guests, pets and children, it said. A growing number of consumers pay for add-on subscriptions that allow video storage over a prescribed period and add features such as video sharing, said NPD analyst John Buffone. As smart home awareness grows, NPD expects other products such as smart doorbells, which grew 64 percent last year, to ride the coattails of smart camera sales, Buffone said. The April study canvassed 5,600 U.S. consumers 18 and older.