Project specifications everywhere are becoming more complex with integrated smart home technologies that respond to consumer interest and demand in technologies to make their lives simpler. Yet, this report from Thinknum Media shows that product complications and cost, in addition to products that just aren't delivering value, are contributing to an overall decrease in sales for smart home devices.
When Nest ($NASDAQ:GOOG) rolled out its Wi-Fi connected learning thermostat in 2011, it ushered in a swell of consumer interest and subsequent sales in the smart-home category. Philips ($NYSE:PHG) Hue smart lighting system launched the next year, and by then a mad rush to connect every home device to smartphones and the internet was underway.
Since then, home security systems, smoke detectors, surveillance cameras, door locks, outlets, garage doors, sprinkler systems, doorbells, baby monitors, and even cat toys have gotten "smart".
But Amazon sales-rank data collected over the past few years points to a curious trend: after that initial, aforementioned swell of interest, it appears that consumers are beginning to lose interest in smart-home tech.
Philips Hue: from 15 to 80
When Philips rolled out its Hue connected lights, consumers and app developers went a bit crazy over the possibilities. People could dial in lighting schemes for movie watching, parties, gradual sunrise schemes for the morning, and control it all from their smartphones. Hundreds of third-party apps crowded Apple's App Store and Google Play.
By 2016, products with the string "Philips Hue" in their names averaged a sales rank of 15.8. But since then, average sales rank for Hue products has been on a steady decline, hitting the high 80s as of late, and threatening to disappear from the top 100. Holiday seasons continue to be good for the products, but the trend is clear.
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