HOLLYWOOD, FL–Florida is among states and cities in North America poised to become part of the most advanced smart home market in the world. The number of households that adopt smart home systems is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.5% by 2024, resulting in 77.9 million smart homes, according to Berg Insight, an independent industry analyst and consulting firm, providing research, analysis and consulting services to clients in the areas of IoT (internet of things) and digital technologies.
It turns out that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a very limited negative effect on the smart home market in North America and Europe. While sales in brick-and-mortar stores declined, online sales have soared instead. As more people spent more time at home during the pandemic, they spurred home improvement activities such as adding smart home devices, according to the study. Even way back in 2019, the North American smart home market already recorded strong growth, with an installed base having increased by 28.5 percent to reach 172.6 million.
Florida has consistently ranked third next to New York and California when it comes to interest in smart home automation. Premium Digital Control & Automation, the leading automation company in south Florida, can attest to the growth.
Homeowners who started with a smart doorbell and other incomplete projects decided to have something professionally done as part of the many home improvement projects happening all around the United States. Premium’s team consists of lead technicians and programmers with many years of expertise.
Initially, Premium Digital received basic queries about how to make their homes smarter. These included questions about how to connect speakers to a TV, but those with some basic home audio-video setup knew they needed more smart devices in their homes. They ended up taking their home viewing experience to a whole new level — by having Premium Digital install a complete home theater experience with surround sound and smart home lighting.
The demand for smart home systems has also led companies to launch new surveillance products with more granular customized controls, if not sleek handcrafted designs that complement one’s aesthetic and lifestyle.
Having smart homes personalized is crucial when targeting Florida’s affluent class from West Palm Beach to Miami, its main customers. The latter is the third-hottest housing market in Florida with a staggering 137% increase in pending sales from 685 in May 2020 to 1,624 in May 2021.
More than 900 people move to Florida every day, according to Florida’s CFO, Jimmy Patronis with 33,500 from New York having just moved in the past 10 months. This has spurred huge demand for housing in Florida unlike anything real estate agents have seen. In Palm Beach County, for instance, new single-family home contracts over $1million saw a 268% increase compared to last year.
More than 900 people move to Florida every day, according to Florida's CFO, Jimmy Patronis with 33,500 from New York having just moved in the past 10 months
Working from home will become increasingly common in the future, even as Covid-19 related lockdowns and restrictions are eased. Smart home products that make people feel safer at home as well as enable time-savings and convenience are likely to be popular among the many people that spend an increasing share of their time at home.
Smart home automation systems include a wide range of solutions for controlling, monitoring and automating functions in the home.
In the scope of the Berg study, a smart home system was defined as one that is accessible from remote and includes a smartphone app or a web portal user interface. Devices that only can be controlled and automated locally, through switches, timers, sensors and remote controls, were not included.
Today, smart home automation extends to workplace systems in primary categories: surveillance and access control systems; energy management and climate control systems; audio-visual and entertainment systems; lighting and window control systems; healthcare and independent living systems; home appliances and service robotics.
An estimated 19.1 million of these were multifunction or whole-home systems whereas 153.5 million were point solutions designed for one specific function. As some homes have more than one smart system in use, the installed base totalled an estimated 43.1 million smart homes at the end of 2019. The most popular point solutions to date, in terms of sold units, include smart thermostats, smart light bulbs, smart plugs, connected security cameras and voice controlled smart speakers. (Dennis Clemente)
