According to new report from ABI Research, voice control smart home devices, a device category that barely existed just two years ago, is expected to represent almost 30 percent of smart home device spending by 2021.
“Voice control will not only draw in new consumers to smart home functionality, but it will help transform a wide variety of new and emerging smart home services and devices into more attractive investments,” Jonathan Collins, Research Director at ABI Research, said in a statement. “The stage is set for voice control to become the heart of any smart home system.”
The research firm said that Amazon’s market leadership with its Alexa products and Google’s emerging Home platform strategy reflect not just the popularity of voice control devices within the home but also how voice will become a key smart home interface in the still emerging market for connected home systems. Alongside Amazon and Google, Apple, Samsung and Microsoft all have the impetus to bring similar devices and functionality to market.
In addition to taking a greater share of device revenue spending, voice control is an application that will push into and help drive all smart home markets and device categories, according to ABI. By 2021, more than 600 million smart home devices will ship annually, up from just 40 million in 2015.
“The ability to integrate and extend voice control throughout the home environment will require many more smart home devices to work seamlessly with voice control offerings,” concluded Collins. “Over the next five years, a wide range of home device and appliance vendors, as well as the installer and managed smart home systems providers, will have to address how to partner to integrate with voice control platforms.”
These findings are from ABI Research’s Home Automation Systems market data, which now, for the first time, includes voice control front-end devices.
