Smart Home Device Shipments Up 10% in Q3, Led by Video, Security Gear

The global market for smart home devices grew 10.3% year over year in Q3 with over 221.8 million devices shipped, said IDC Thursday. Video entertainment device shipments -- smart TVs and streaming media players -- fell 2.3% in the quarter but led overall smart home devices with 78.3 million shipments and 35.3% share. The home monitoring category came in second with 45.2 million shipments and 20.4% share, followed by smart speakers at 32 million shipments and 14.4% share. Smart home lighting shipments grew 50% in Q3 to 21.1 million. "The smart home market continues to fare better than other consumer goods during the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic,” said analyst Adam Wright, though by varying degrees in different regions. The U.S. had the largest share of unit shipments in the quarter and grew 9.5% over Q3 2020. "Not only are consumers buying more devices, but they're also buying up the stack as average selling prices (ASPs) have increased upwards of 3%," said analyst Jitesh Ubrani, citing price hikes driven partly by supply chain disruptions; new products and better features also played a role. ASPs for TVs increased by almost 7% as OLED displays grew in popularity, Ubrani said. Smart displays, which typically cost more than audio-only devices, outpaced traditional smart speakers, he said.