Skip to main content

Home Automation as a Managed Service

There are two new approaches to home automation -- mainstream systems based on standardized technologies and packaged components, and home automation as a managed service offered through a broadband or wireless service provider.

Both have the potential for such broad market appeal that new research from ABI Research forecasts shipments to grow more than 50-fold between 2007 and 2013.

For 20 years, home automation systems were confined to two niche markets: luxury custom-designed and installed high-end systems that cover the whole home at a typical cost of $30,000-60,000 and up, and do-it-yourself X10 systems that tech-savvy customers typically bought online and were self-installed.

Now, however, according to ABI Research senior analyst Sam Lucero, "Home automation systems are becoming more mainstream and managed services are growing. ABI Research believes that they will appeal to a much wider public. Our forecasts indicate that the overall market will grow from a modest 237,000 systems shipped in 2007, to more than 4 million systems in 2013."

By far the lion's share of that growth will occur in the two new segments, mainstream and managed services. Mainstream systems are based on standard technologies and packaged components, as well as software that is integrated into other devices in the home, such as set-top boxes.

They feature interoperable devices available from multiple vendors, as opposed to integrated single-vendor systems. Such products are typically sold via high-touch retail and big box outlets. Home builders are also using them as an option.

Managed home automation will show the strongest growth of all, with an anticipated 1.3 million shipments in 2013.

Partnering with automation vendors such as 4Home, Portus, iControl, and uControl, broadband and telecom service providers are starting to offer such services, which provide functionality and remote monitoring via a computer or smartphone, as part of quintuple-play bundles.

Popular posts from this blog

Global Digital Business and IT Consulting Outlook

Across the globe, CEOs and their leadership teams continue to seek information and guidance about planned Digital Transformation initiatives and the most effective enterprise organization change management practices. Worldwide IT and Business Services revenue will grow from $1.13 trillion in 2022 to $1.2 trillion in 2023 -- that's a 5.7 percent year-over-year growth, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC). The mid-term to long-term outlook for the market has also increased -- the five-year CAGR is forecast at 5.2 percent, compared to the previous 4.9 percent. Digital Sevices & Consulting Market Development IDC has raised the growth projection despite a weak economic outlook, because of vendor performances across 2022, growth indicators from adjacent markets, increased government funding, and inflation impacts. The actual 2022 market growth was 6.7 percent (in constant currency), which was 87 basis points higher than forecast last year, alth

Open Banking Usage to Grow by 470 Percent

The Open Banking business model has been advantageous for Third-Party Providers (TPPs), helping them to extend their offerings into other areas of financial services with new capabilities. Open Banking is also advantageous for traditional banking institutions, despite the perceived loss of custodianship over their data, by providing greater accessibility to more bank services. Furthermore, Open Banking can help serve Mobile Internet providers that are able to leverage it to create tailored services according to customers’ preferences and/or economic limitations. Open Banking Market Development Since traditional banking services are made more convenient by TPPs via greater data access, customers can proactively manage their finances and shape the development of new financial offerings. This is particularly noticeable in the realm of Digital Payments, where retail merchants and customers transact through eCommerce, which has the greatest number of use cases for Open Banking. These includ

Why Instant Issuance Payment Cards Evolved

The global financial services sector continues to grow as more progressive organizations seek to gain a meaningful competitive advantage from their digital transformation initiatives. Across the globe, many regions are seeing a significant rise in 'instant issuance' activity from a physical and digital perspective, from both traditional and emerging innovative banking institutions. Digital Payments Market Development Customers increasingly demand instant access to banking services, with physical instant issuance enabling them to leave their branch equipped with a ready-to-go payment card. According to the latest worldwide market study by ABI Research, the market for instantly issued physical payment cards will increase from 243.2 million shipments in 2022 to a forecast of 471.1 million in 2027. "Critically, instant issuance of payment cards is no longer limited to the physical," said Sam Gazeley, industry analyst at ABI Research . Indeed, the growing digitization of p