Telsyte: Aussie IoT@Home Spending Spree To See Market Worth $4 B By 2020

IoT in the home is set to surge in the local market, with Australians to embark on a connected device spending spree as new products arrive in the coming years, according to analyst firm Telsyte.

Telsyte forecasts that about $383 million will be spent by early adopters on range of IoT products and services for the home, “IoT@home”, this year (up from an estimated $231 million last year), rapidly growing to $4 billion by 2020.

Telsyte expects growth to accelerate in 2018, with a range of new products coming onto the market and manufacturers integrating wireless chipsets into the majority of their product ranges.

It is anticipated that smart appliances and IoT@home services, including cloud-based “intelligent” services, will be the fastest growing segments.

In turn, Telsyte forecasts that the average Australian household will grow from having 11 connected devices this year (up from 9.2 last year) to 28.7 by 2020 (including devices such as smartphones, tablets, smart TVs and game consoles).

Telsyte predicts that there will be four main themes “critical to the acceptance of IoT@home technologies”, including existing mainstream smartphone and app ecosystem integration, and a modular approach and gamification, encouraging users to easily add modules (or devices), with the ability of devices to interact with each other and appear in the same app to be critical.

Intelligent features using cloud-based machine learning to provide lifestyle benefits going beyond self-monitoring and user-driven outcomes will comprise another theme, while voice control and recognition is expected to be important in controlling smart appliances and services.

Telsyte states that its research shows that one-third of early adopters have used voice commands on their smartphones, with greater than 75 per cent of these users indicating a good or adequate experience.

Meanwhile, barriers including cybersecurity and privacy concerns, along with high upfront costs, will need to be overcome, with Telsyte also finding “a strong correlation between those interested in IoT@home products and consumers who are environmentally conscious and look to purchase ‘green’ products”.

Telsyte notes that IoT@home is also expected to form “a new battleground for telecommunications companies” amid widespread 4G adoption and the metropolitan rollout of NBN services.

“While carriers will seek to lock consumers into longer term contracts by dangling the IoT@home carrot, they will need to be more flexible and look at a trial periods, pay-as-you-go and a modular approach to be successful,” Telsyte managing director Foad Fadaghi commented.