Smart Home 2.0: Home automation in Germany (Geplant)

• What does the status quo of the Smart Home market (technologies, competition, market volume etc.) look like?
• Which roles do different market actors play and how are the responsibilities for processes organised?
• Will Smart Home develop into a mass market?
• Which chances and risks prevail in the market?

Smart Home is well represented in the media. Products and services for a home network promise to enhance comfort and security, shall facilitate that old people can stay in their homes longer and live independently and – in the best case – save energy on top of that. Smart Home – especially in the interplay with Smart Meter and Smart Grids – is to play a relevant role in the energy supply of the future.

However, so far the market is still in its infancy. Less than two per cent of the houses in Germany are Smart Homes and many complain that Smart Home is only affordable for rich households. Some companies intend to reverse this trend. Compact Smart Home starter packets shall make Smart Home accessible for everyone. Especially energy utilities use this trend to retain customers over the long term.

Is this the beginning of a mass market? The potential is existent in the heavily fragmented market, composed of the four submarkets: comfort, security and safety, energy as well as information and communication. However, in order to transform the niche market into a functional mass market several barriers need to be overcome: Binding communication standards and interfaces will have to be developed, concerns by potential clients have to be cleared– especially regarding data security – and roles of market players as well as their responsibilities will have to be accurately defined.

The brief study „Smart Home 2.0: Home automation in Germany“ analyses the current developments in the market for Smart Home in Germany and answers questions concerning the societal, political and economic framework prevailing in the market. The study informs about the status quo, the potential and the future developments in the Smart Home market as well as in the submarkets and predicts the market volume for the coming years. Additionally, the most important market players, their roles as well as the competitive structure and the level of competition are demonstrated.