Smart-Home Adopters Buy Devices ‘Incrementally,’ Not All at Once, Says Parks

Parks Associates estimates 16 percent of U.S. broadband homes own two or more smart home devices, with smart thermostats the most popular, it said Tuesday. Nearly half the smart thermostats bought in 2017 were bought as an upgrade to an older model, it said. The research found smart-home product adopters buy their devices “incrementally” rather than all at once, said Parks. "For smart thermostats, a household that buys this device frequently moves on to a smart speaker with personal assistant as their second or third smart home purchase," it said. Other findings: (1) Just over a quarter (26 percent) of U.S. broadband homes own at least one smart-home device; (2) Roughly one of five (22 percent) such homes reports buying a smart-home device in the past year.