SmartThings users will be able to connect their utility accounts with Enersponse, a distributed energy resource management provider, and automate their smart home devices to cut back on energy use in response to real-time factors such as grid emergencies, the companies said Friday. Users with access to utility integrations and grid services programs via the SmartThings Energy service will be able to throttle thermostats, hot water heaters and electric vehicle chargers in response to extreme weather, system outages and energy pricing fluctuations, they said. Partnering with SmartThings “is a massive step forward, enabling residential energy users to play a much more active role in the journey towards energy decarbonization,” said Enersponse CEO James McPhail, which is making its first entry into the residential market. Historically, utilities issue flex alerts and expect end-users to manually power down if they want to save money. Using Enersponse’s intelligent automation platform allows users to program their response and take control of their power bill, the company said. Customers can preset their schedules with preferences for how much they're willing to shift their energy usage. Changes can be “aggressive or nearly imperceptible,” it said, giving examples of reducing smart thermostat settings by two degrees when grid demand surges or delaying a dishwasher cycle until after peak hours.

Belkin unveiled smart devices and noise-canceling earbuds at Pepcom's Tuesday event on the eve of CES 2022's opening. Belkin's Wemo smart video doorbell has a 178-degree field of view and a 4-megapixel camera with night vision and zoom. The video doorbell works with Apple’s HomeKit Secure Video and can be managed by app on an iPhone, iPad and Mac. Belkin is also adding support for Matter over Thread to its Wemo smart plug, light switch and dimmer, said the company. The new Soundform Immerse earbuds have active noise cancellation, aptX HD audio customizable equalization settings and eight-hour battery life, it said.

Sales of smart home products were up 21% year on year through November, driven by increases in security cameras (13%), smart power (41%) and smart lighting (41%), reported NPD Thursday. Security cameras generate most smart home revenue and are often reported to be the first smart home product purchased, it said. Increasingly, energy savings and convenience are driving purchases of smart power and lighting, it said. Smart power and lighting device sales grew 25% and 27% during Cyber Week, said NPD.

Sixty-four percent of U.S. broadband households considering a smart home product are interested in a single-brand system, said Parks Associates Friday. Some 36% have at least one smart home device, Parks said, saying the primary means of controlling smart home devices is shifting from single-product apps toward more versatile means. "Smart home device owners and intenders want interoperability, which is driving the interest in a single-brand household ecosystem, but even among the tech giants, it has been difficult for one brand to offer all desired devices or align with the different expectations for app and control experiences," said President Elizabeth Parks. Nearly three-fourths of smart home device owners and intenders say a mark of interoperability certification is an important purchase consideration, she said. Even at a nascent stage, efforts such as Matter “are proving to be popular among consumers.”

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.

California utility Pacific Gas and Electric is pushing energy-saving smart devices as holiday gifts this season. Though convenience is promoted as the primary advantage of smart home devices, smart sensors and thermostats can help cut energy use and enhance safety, said Chief Customer Officer Marlene Santos Tuesday. She noted customers can use sensors connected to smart thermostats to set and maintain different temperatures in specific rooms and put holiday lights on timers using smart plugs to follow a schedule. The smart plugs can also be connected to a smart speaker for on and off control by voice, she said. The utility is offering customers up to $120 in rebates when they buy an eligible device and sign up for a time-of-use rate plan.

A “sea change” is coming in the smart home surveillance camera market, said Strategy Analytics Wednesday, saying device-only business models based on lowest selling price are “unsustainable.” The hardware-first business model adopted by brands including Wyze, Xiaomi, Reolink and eufy that spurred “tremendous growth” in the category “is showing signs of winding down,” SA said. Amazon’s Blink and Ring brands, Arlo and Google Nest will set themselves apart at the top of the market with software offerings that bring in new customers and protect installed bases, it said; brands viewed as hardware-only will be viewed as commodities and could be knocked out of the market altogether. The leading smart home camera brands “will look more like software developers than device companies,” said analyst Jack Narcotta. Consumers evaluate surveillance cameras based on how they can be integrated into their daily routines, he said, and AI-powered video/image analytics, package detection and trainable facial recognition are some of the features consumers find valuable. Video resolution beyond 1080p, advanced night vision capabilities, and integration with digital assistants are important to consumers but much less than in the past, said analyst Bill Ablondi.

Smart home market developments including new spectrum availability, more service specialization, partnerships, additional connectivity options and growing competition are bringing a “reorganization, integration, and change” to the smart home market, said ABI Research analyst Jonathan Collins Thursday. Consumer companies across multiple markets will have to leverage the potential to expand their appeal “or face losing key consumer awareness, access and allure.” The efficiencies and capabilities that smart home adoption offers consumers, service providers, and the technology industry are well beyond “new gadget appeal,” Collins said. Recent developments such as the Matter specification -- due next year and backed by Amazon, Apple, Google and over 200 other smart home players -- are transitioning the market from vendor silos to networked infrastructure. Potential value is shared across multiple players “and pushing beyond the home and across industries, cities, nations, and economies,” Collins said. Players once daunted by the demands of disparate smart home ecosystems are exploring what smart home integration can deliver, he said. Increasingly, the installation of smart home devices is separating from services provided over each installation: Applications such as home security and energy management will sit alongside home health, insurance, commerce, robotics and entertainment as services integrate with smart home awareness to simplify and automate everyday life, he said.

Some 95% of property managers think smart home devices can increase rental fees by 5%-30%, blogged Parks Associates analyst Patrice Samuels Monday. Theft and burglary prevention is the most appealing smart home feature to property managers, she said, citing a survey of 300 multi-dwelling unit managers in properties with at least 10 units. She also cited management of HVAC systems to prevent emergencies and control of lighting in unoccupied units as “very appealing.”

Recent acquisitions in the smart home industry could have significant long-term repercussions, blogged Parks Associates President Elizabeth Parks Tuesday. Swiss access solutions company Assa Abloy said last week it agreed to buy Spectrum Brands’ home and hardware improvement business for $4.3 billion, leaving Spectrum to focus on home and personal care brands Black & Decker, George Foreman and others. Assa Abloy can leverage complementary Spectrum brands -- Kwikset, Baldwin, Weiser, Pfister and National Hardware -- to strengthen its North American position, Parks said. Some 13 million-15 million exterior door locks are sold to U.S. broadband households each year, 15% of them smart locks, she said. Last year, 8% of households reported owning at least one smart lock. The integration of video cameras with smart door locks will become more common in the future, as consumers can buy a single device to achieve dual functionality. Last week, Blackstone’s Private Equity Funds agreed to buy the Chamberlain garage door business from The Duchossois Group for a reported $5 billion, Parks noted, allowing for “scale and innovation in the business.” She noted Amazon was the first to introduce in-home delivery service with Key by Amazon in 2017, with Chamberlain as one of the first partners. Parks research shows 12% of households report using a service that delivers packages inside the home. With 37% of access device owners showing high interest in the service, Parks pegs the total addressable market size for in-home delivery services in the U.S. at $536 million. It forecasts the smart garage door category will grow from a current $701 million to $777 million by 2025, while seeing increased integration with other core smart home applications -- and vehicles. Smart garage door adoption is currently at 9% of households.