Online shopping and contact-free delivery will keep purchases of do-it-yourself thermostats, cameras, video doorbells, and light bulbs moving. Adoption by consumers of more complex, professionally-installed smart home solutions will be lower, as some locales continue to prohibit in-home installation, or consumers are not yet comfortable with installers entering their homes for days or weeks at a time. As a result, installations of these premium whole-home systems will be delayed until 2023 or 2024, when they help return smart home market growth to near pre-COVID levels.
Jack Narcotta , Senior Industry Analyst in Strategy Analytics’ Smart Home Strategies advisory service, added, “Even with the onset of the pandemic the global smart home device market is very active. Since late 2019, every smart home device category has seen new entrants, and established brands are refreshing their portfolios on a regular basis. Globally, nearly 250 million households already have at least one smart home device, and as average selling prices for most devices decline, many of those are highly likely to buy additional devices. Online shopping will keep device purchases flowing in spite of any restrictions placed on brick-and-mortar retail stores”.