Investment

Innovation is inevitable. Time is just a detail. Early adopters, traditionalists, budget conscious customers…in the end, everybody is a convert when technology improves efficiency.

The Smart Home will happen and home appliances manufacturers must be ambitious and grasp it.

Innovation is inevitable.

As Innovation analysts, we tend to overestimate short-term effects and underestimate long-term ones. We know that the Smart Home phenomenon is poised reach extraordinary popularity: AT Kearney tells us that the market value in 2030 will be around 400 billion US dollars and that it will be representing more than the 40% of the home appliance market. Are consumers ready right now? If yes, what is driving their appetite?

Appliance manufacturers have a shot at gold, but they’ll need an App.

According to eMarketer, the most important feature that users consider when purchasing a Smart Home device is security. Second, convenience. And who is destined to lead the market? There is no doubt that home appliance manufacturers are the natural candidates to do so. But will they be the only guests at the party? One needs to look not further than Blablacar and Uber for a strong argument to the contrary–neither was launched by automotive brands. Startups have a unique opportunity to make a strong run for industry leadership since they are agile and already capable of a disruptive mentality.