SmartRent, a provider of smart home systems for property managers and renters, announced Wednesday an investment from Amazon Alexa Fund. It will use the funding to work with teams from Amazon and Ring to develop software and hardware for connected communities including smart locks, voice control and leak sensors, it said. The multifamily housing market has been "largely overlooked" by the smart home industry, said SmartRent CEO Lucas Haldeman.

Consumer spending on smart home hardware, services and installation fees will reach $103 billion globally in 2019 and increase at an 11 percent compound annual growth rate to $157 billion by 2023, said Strategy Analytics Wednesday. It predicts spending on devices alone will reach $55 billion in 2019 and rise at a 10 percent CAGR to $81 billion by 2023. More than 200 million homes globally owned at least one smart home device at the end of 2018, and there will be an additional 100 million by 2023 as smart home penetration reaches 30 percent of all broadband households worldwide, it said. By the end of 2023, more than 6.4 billion smart home devices will be in use, an average of 21 per smart home, it said.

Smart-home devices have penetrated 28 percent of U.S. broadband homes, while ownership has reached 16 percent in the U.K. and 14 percent in Canada, said Parks Associates Wednesday. There’s serious “mass-market potential” for many smart-home and IoT products, especially smart speakers, said Parks. Other trends bode well for mass-market adoption, but “converting interest to actual purchases has proven difficult,” it said.

The global market for smart home devices is expected to grow 23.5 percent in 2019, reaching nearly 815 million unit shipments, said IDC Monday. It forecasts shipments exceeding 1.39 billion in 2023, based on a 14.4 percent five-year compound annual growth rate, it said. Competitive price reductions, rising consumer awareness of smart home and the rapid adoption of smart assistants will drive the increases, said IDC. The U.S. will have the “lion's share” of unit shipments each year, rising at a 9.5 percent CAGR to reach more than 560 million devices in 2023, it said. China will be second to the U.S. in global volume but have the world’s highest CAGR at 22.6 percent, it said. "Content and services are going be at the forefront for the smart home market as video entertainment products such as the Fire TV or Chromecast will serve as an on-ramp for consumers entering the world of connected home products," said IDC. Smart TVs will have a nearly 30 percent share of all smart home device shipments in 2023, it said. Falling prices and advanced functionality, such as 8K, higher refresh rates, HDR and integration with smart assistants and streaming platforms, will spur many consumers to upgrade their sets, it said. IDC expects growth in smart speakers and displays to slow to “single digits in the next few years,” it said. The installed base of smart speakers will approach “saturation,” and consumers “will look to other form factors to access smart assistants in the home,” such as thermostats, appliances and TVs, it said.

Homeowners’ self-installation of smart door locks is growing, reaching 59 percent of all installations at the end of 2018, a 20-point increase from just two years earlier, said Parks Associates Monday. “As manufacturers launch new and second-generation products, they are trying to balance security with convenience, customization, and expanding use cases, such as voice control and security notifications,” said Parks. Since door locks at their core have a security function, manufacturers have been reluctant to enable voice control to unlock doors “due to challenges with fully authenticating users,” it said. The development of facial and fingerprint authentication “allows device manufacturers to create additional convenience while still maintaining a high level of security,” it said, but “current far-field voice recognition technology is not yet up to the security challenge.".

Best Buy, Belkin and Phyn began taking online preorders Wednesday for the Phyn Smart Water Assistant, said the leak detection device maker. The device alerts homeowners to leaks, ice crystals in pipes and poor seals, it said. The $299 do-it-yourself sensor lets homeowners track their water usage by daily and monthly consumption; it uses pressure-sensing technology that measures and analyzes microscopic changes in water pressure 240 times per second to learn and categorize a home’s water fixtures. The Assistant provides details by the fixture on how much water showers, sinks, washing machines, irrigation systems and other devices consume so occupants can make better choices about water use, it said. The average home in the U.S. wastes 10,000 gallons of water annually from leaks alone, said the company. Availability is late September.

Ikea, fresh off the launch of a line of Sonos speakers that double as shelves and lamps (see [Ref:1908020042]), announced it established smart home as a separate business unit. Ikea Home smart was initiated as a project in 2012 as a way to “enrich life at home by incorporating digital elements and technologies into products and solutions,” said the company Friday, saying it now wants to “explore products and solutions beyond conventional home furnishing.” Previous launches in the category include wireless charging and smart lighting; the retailer also created an ecosystem and app for smart lighting, changing the name in June from Tradfri to Ikea Home smart app. The smart home group will work with other company departments to “drive the digital transformation" across its businesses and bring more types of smart products to many people, said Bjorn Block, head-Ikea Home smart business unit.

Nearly 14 million smart home controllers will sell in the U.S. in 2024, doubling from about 7 million this year, reported Parks Associates Friday. “Device manufacturers are increasingly aware of the negative impact of security and privacy concerns on smart home industry growth, so major players including Google and Amazon are designing device features to restrict accessibility to consumer data.” Parks estimates only 37 percent of U.S. broadband homes “trust that companies with access to their data will keep it safe,” it said. The development of facial and fingerprint authentication “allows device manufacturers to establish a level of security stronger than voice but still convenient to the consumer,” said Parks. “Ultimately, voice technology will develop, where unique voices can be used for biometric authentication in and of itself, but current far-field voice recognition technology is not yet up to the security challenge.”

With overall customer satisfaction for smart thermostats up 12 points from a year ago, the next step is for brands "to find ways to better communicate to their users just how much money they are saving once installed,” said J.D. Power analyst Christina Cooley in a Wednesday report. J.D. Power’s 2019 smart thermostat report said customer satisfaction was up for the third straight year measured by ease of use, ease of installation and setup, reliability, energy efficiency, price paid, effectiveness of heating and cooling, internet connectivity, app usefulness, feature variety and customer service. Lennox ranked first among customers with a satisfaction score of 898 out of 1,000, followed by Carrier (893), Nest (890), Honeywell (889) Emerson Sensei (884) and Ecobee (873). The report, based on responses from 1,179 customers, was fielded June-July.

Rising demand for home automation and smart hubs is expected to boost demand for smart digital photo frames, a category forecast to grow by $47 million 2018-2023, said Technavio Tuesday. Artificial intelligence-enabled smart home controllers and smart hubs use Wi-Fi and near-field communication to control smart digital photo frames remotely, it said, citing voice-controllable connected smart digital photo frames from Nixplay that are Alexa-compatible. With rising popularity of smart homes, demand for smart home decor products, such as digital photo frames, will also grow, it said.