The smart home market is expected to grow at a rate of 30 per cent year-on-year, thereby, ensuring that the market will double in revenue every three years, according to a survey by Schneider Electric.
The survey was conducted among end customers of premium apartment complexes, duplex, triplex and villas within the range of Rs. 50 lakh to Rs. 1 crore, Rs. 1-5 crore and Rs. 5 crore, as well as builders of such complexes.
The survey revealed high awareness among respondents about Smart Homes, which was almost universal in metros and upper-end segments. As per the survey, security, convenience and energy efficiency were the largest drivers for smart homes.
“Almost 75 per cent respondents were aware of Smart Homes, which was almost universal among the upper-end segment. But awareness was low among the lower end, since these respondents hailed from smaller towns, with 11 per cent not aware even on being prompted. The quality of knowledge about Smart Homes across budget segments was quite good, especially in metros, but vague in non-metros,” said Shrinivas Chebbi, vice-president, Schneider Electric India.
In the Rs. 5 crore segment, 100 per cent respondents were aware of smart homes, while in the Rs. 1-5 crore bracket, 87 per cent were aware. In the Rs. 50 lakh to Rs. 1 crore section, only 49 per cent were aware, while another 28 per cent expressed awareness on being prompted, with the balance 23 per cent having no awareness at all. Taking into account respondents from every segment, the consolidated awareness figure was 79 per cent.
When queried about the source of awareness on smart homes, builders and the Internet were cited as the main sources.
On being exposed to the smart homes concept, most customers expressed likeness for security features, video door, IP cameras, motion sensors and gas leakage sensors.
Some liked the UPS, as they realised that drop in power could impact all gadgets. On evaluating service providers for smart homes, customers were mostly seeking a large company that was a technology leader, while a few said they would prefer dealing only with their builders.
BW Reporters
Haider Ali Khan is an alumnus of IIMC. He holds a degree in English Journalism from the prestigious campus. His passion includes Aviation, Technology, Politics and Sports.
