The debate about whether telcos own smart home spaces is over, so the question is, will AI once again open up spaces that can be monetized?
According to a study by the digital association Bitkom, almost every second household (46 percent) is already smart. In 2022, this figure was already 43 percent, compared to 37 percent in 2020. And even seniors are increasingly open to smart home technologies: 30 percent of 65- to 74-year-olds already use at least one corresponding application. Among those over 75, however, the figure is only 6 percent.
Telecom companies have virtually missed the smart home management market, but the emergence of edge AI applications may offer them a second chance to grab at least some of the functionality as a potential managed service, even if they wholesale it to specialized service providers.
80% of all Germans are open to AI-controlled smart home tools in the future. Most (70%) can imagine using AI for heating, for example by not only learning the comfortable temperature at different times of the day, but also taking energy savings into account. 51% would use AI that proactively detects damage to building technology and initiates maintenance. Many can also imagine AI controlling lighting (66%), alarm systems (51%) or vacuum and mop robots (36%).
“Smart home applications can make life more comfortable, safer and more energy efficient. AI will make intuitive interaction with the smart home even easier and create the basis for completely new services and applications. It is expected that the smart home market will experience a real growth spurt thanks to AI,” said Bitkom CEO Dr. Bernhard Rohleder.
Robot vacuum cleaner
Smart lamps and lights are already in use in 41% of households (2022: 36%). This is followed by smart radiator thermostats with 36%, which were still used by 25% of Germans two years ago. In third place are smart sockets with 31% (2022: 21%).
In every fourth household (26%), a robot vacuum cleaner does its rounds (2022: 22%). 18% still let a robot lawn mower do its work in the garden. Window cleaning robots (1%), on the other hand, are used extremely rarely. According to the survey, 28% have given their robot a name. This is often derived from the robot's function: Examples given were Rasimir, Mählanie, Dolly or Rasenpirat, Staubinator, Hauself, Heinzelmann or Saugus Rex.
Intelligent Video
Around a fifth each use smart video surveillance (21%) and smart alarm systems (18%) – there are slight declines here compared to 2022 (smart video surveillance: 25%; smart alarm systems: 24%).
Smart home technology users have an average of seven smart home devices or applications in their home. Two-thirds (69%) of users say: “I never want to live in a home without smart home applications again.”
Intelligent living
Most people use smart home devices in the living room (54%) and in the bedroom (47%), as well as in the garden area (42%). Dining room (28%) and kitchen (25%) are less common. One tenth of smart home users also have smart home technology in their children's room (10%). Regardless of which and how many rooms they have, one third (34%) have equipped their entire house or apartment with smart home devices.
Voice control is becoming increasingly important in the smart home. 65% already operate their devices and applications using voice commands, compared to 55% two years ago. A stationary voice assistant such as Alexa, Google Home & Co. is usually used for this, but mobile voice assistants via smartphone or smartwatch also play a major role. Almost all users of smart home tools (90%) also control their devices using an app on their smartphone, 44% using a tablet app and 28% using a smart display. 14% use a remote control.
Users with security concerns
While people see great benefits in improving their physical security, they sometimes worry whether smart home applications can also pose a risk to IT security. 55% fear being monitored via smart home applications. 5% say they use smart home applications to monitor family members or the neighborhood.
96 percent of smart home users want an independent seal or certificate that guarantees a high level of security against hacker attacks – and 87 percent want a corresponding label that guarantees a high level of data protection. 86 percent want the manufacturer to offer the longest possible update guarantee.
Even those who do not have smart devices in their household are often put off by security concerns. More than half of non-users (54%) are afraid of hacker attacks. 43% are afraid of their personal data being misused and 36% are worried about their privacy. Many also find the devices too expensive (31%) or the operation seems too complicated (27%).
Despite the concerns mentioned, no one has yet observed hacker attacks on one of their smart home devices – this also applies to the 2022 preliminary survey. Those who rarely (25%), occasionally (13%) or regularly (8%) struggle with outages in their applications usually say that the reason is a disruption to the internet connection (77%).
These are the results of a representative survey of 1,193 people in Germany aged 16 and over, which was conducted on behalf of the digital association Bitkom on the occasion of the Berlin IFA, which begins in September.
