A smart and connected home includes everything from computers, smart phones, TVs and set-top boxes to lighting, appliances and heating/air conditioning systems and makes them accessible and easy to control with a single interface.

But, why do we as consumers need to connect these devices?

At the recent Thread All Member Meeting, Dan Shey from ABI Research stated, "the home is the center of daily life." Connecting your home with state of the art, cutting edge technology is about simplifying lifestyles:

• Easier to control your home when you're away - how many times have you forgotten (or feared you'd forgotten) to shut the garage or lock the front door?
• Easier to improve the safety and security of your home for peace of mind
• Better accessibility so that elderly and disabled individuals can be more comfortable in their own homes
• Optimizing energy efficiency to reduce costs

These are all examples of what consumers find beneficial and look for in products they buy for their homes.

Top desired products:

• Self-adjusting and remotely controllable thermostats
• Automatic outdoor and indoor lighting
• Home monitoring cameras
• Doors that can be controlled remotely and automatically (hands free!)
• Master remote for all household items

International Trends:

These connected, smart homes are expanding worldwide. Here are some specific regional trends to consider.

China

According to a Juniper Research Study, here are some interesting data points about China's smart home market:

• Forecasted to expand to $22.8 billion by 2018
• By 2020, 1 out of every 5 connected devices globally will be in China
• 54.9% of consumers 'very interested' in converting to smart home
• 36.8% 'fairly interested' in smart home idea

China suffers from a serious smog and pollution problem with 38 percent of the population living with pollution that US EPA rates as "unhealthy". Smart air purifiers and connected air conditioners are driving adoption of smart home products.

Europe

Research from Park Associates finds that adoption of smart home products in Europe has risen, with the U.K., Germany, Spain, and France having roughly the same penetration among broadband households.

Nearly 10 percent of broadband households in the UK, Germany, Spain and France have a home control system. Consumer intention to purchase devices and integrate them into home systems continues to be a growing trend across Western Europe.

No one company -- or standard, for that matter -- will own the connected home in the European markets. Raising consumer awareness and familiarity with smart home solutions, monetizing data, and gaining consumer trust are keys to success in this rapidly evolving space.

Future Growth Areas

The Thread Group is seeing interest and market potential in other countries such as India, where the smart home movement owes something in part to the government initiated India Smart Cities Challenge which encouraged cities to modernize and enter the first round of a competition for implementation funding from the Ministry of Urban Development, in 2015.

A recent article in Forbes Magazine stated that a number of factors have contributed to India's move to embrace technology. One of these is the increased availability of disposable income. The other, according to Green Cloud iSoft CEO Piyush Yadav, "we [Indians] use technology because we like to use it - Europeans only use technology if it is useful."

Connected Home Experience

The smart home is all about making life easier and more convenient for consumers worldwide while also addressing concerns such as security, cost and ease of use. Emerging technologies in the IoT industry, such as Thread, are solving these problems and spurring innovation so that we (consumers) can better enjoy our lives and do more.