European Smart Home Growth Requires Adapting to Disparate Market, Says ABI

The European smart home market is adapting offerings to the specific requirements of the disparate European market, said a Tuesday ABI Research report, saying over the next five years, the number of smart homes in Europe will triple to 103 million, and annual smart device shipments will reach more than 154 million units by 2022. Much of the growth will be built through the direct investment and development of European companies adapting their offerings to the specific demands within Europe and within constituent European countries, said ABI, citing Signify (formerly Philips Lighting), Hive, tado and Netatmo. But the influence of U.S. giants including Amazon, Apple and Google, and the availability of their smart home voice control platforms with European language support, will shape and drive the emergence of the European smart home market over the next few years, said analyst Jonathan Collins. Attempts to replicate U.S. smart home strategies in Europe have struggled, Collins said, but the evolution of dedicated European smart home management offerings from telcos including Deutsche Telekom and Swisscom are driving smart home management availability, while Vodafone and BT entered the smart home services market for the first time this year, he said. Vendors' ability to grow smart home appeal is key: Strategies will succeed for vendors who "understand global smart home market dynamics and can apply them in relation to local capabilities,” says Collins.