If consumers are shopping for smart-home products, security is likely top of mind.
According to The NPD Group’s Connected Intelligence service, four out of 10 consumers who are at least somewhat interested in a smart home ranked making their home more secure and safe as the top reason driving their interest.
The top five reasons consumers cited as driving interest in building a smarter home were:
1. Making their home more secure/safe.
2. Monitoring/controlling their home remotely.
3. Monitoring/controlling their home’s energy use to save money.
4. Monitoring/controlling their home while at home.
5. Monitoring/controlling their home’s energy to be environmentally friendly.
Network-connected cameras generated 61 percent of all U.S. home-automation industry revenues in the 12 months ending June 2016. This includes both IP cameras and CCTV cameras that come with a network-connected DVR. Smart doorbells are also attracting consumer attention, with that category growing 64 percent it the last year, according to John Buffone, executive director, industry analyst, NPD Connected Intelligence. Among the 10 percent of U.S. Internet homes that are smart, monitors/cameras are the most common point of entry into the market, noted the firm. One-third of these homes have a networked camera and one-quarter have a security, motion, door or window sensor.
More than half of these camera owners are using them for functions in addition to security. Eighty-one percent of smart-camera owners use the device for home security, while 53 percent also use it for such tasks as monitoring house guests, pets and kids. “Smart cameras generate more retail revenue than any other home automation category, and a growing number of consumers are producing recurring revenue through add-on subscriptions that allow longer tenure video storage and provide features such as the ability to share footage,” said Buffone. “As the market takes shape, we expect consumers to flank their smart cameras with other security focused devices such as smart doorbells.
