The future envisioned in the old television show The Jetsons, in which home appliances automatically perform household chores, may be closer than we think. As embedded controls find their way into increasingly more domestic devices, economies of scale are encouraging appliance manufacturers to add smarter features to their offerings. And the tipping point for the smart appliance market to take off looks like it could well be right around the corner.
A recent report from Navigant Research states that the annual value of the smart appliance market will grow from $613 million in 2012 to $35 billion by the end of the decade.
The Navigant report examines the current state of the global smart appliance market, including an analysis of barriers and drivers, enabling technologies, regulatory factors, and key industry players. The study features detailed market forecasts of smart appliance unit shipments, revenues, and penetration rates, segmented by appliance product category and key world regions, through 2020.
Navigant addresses the key questions:
- What is the current state of the smart appliance market?
- What is the potential for this market?
- Which regions will drive growth?
- Who are the key players in the smart appliance space, and what actions are they taking to drive market adoption?
- What issues and barriers need to be overcome in order for the smart appliance market to flourish?
- What are the primary technology issues facing makers of smart appliances?
- Which networking technologies will be prevalent in the smart appliance market?
- What are the strongest customer motivations for purchasing smart appliances?
While the report cautions that the market will likely remain soft for another couple of years, it forecasts that continuing investment in smart grid initiatives, declining unit prices, and clearer value propositions will make smart appliances much more appealing for end users in the second half of the decade.
That’s encouraging news.
