Market research firm Statista data show that in 2015 China’s smart home market reached 40.34 billion yuan, an increase of 41%; forecast to 2018, this figure will reach 130 billion yuan. Will be another one hundred billion market! Huge market innovative products to meet the urgent need, Google, Apple, BAT, millet, Midea, Haier, etc. have the layout of the smart home industry chain, wants to capture the lead.
July 12, in Shunde, Guangdong Midea Group Headquarters, US chairman Fang Hongbo Yu Chengdong, Huawei’s consumer business CEO representing the two sides signed a “strategic cooperation framework agreement”, the two sides will form a comprehensive strategic partnership in the wisdom of the home field.
According to the agreement with Huawei signed by the United States, the two sides will interact with mobile intelligent terminals and intelligent home appliances, channel sharing and joint marketing, chip, operating system (OS) and artificial intelligence (AI) domain, intelligent home security, data sharing and data Construction of all-round strategic partnership aspect mining, and other brands. From the foregoing, the beauty of the channel M-Smart and Huawei Hilink between open, Huawei’s consumer business, a full range of end product line of smart appliances and beauty can achieve interoperability.
Current smart home products market There are four main strategies:
The first category: System. Like Haier uHome or the United States this whole Control4 smart home system by physical wiring or a Zigbee wireless communication connection to a compatible lighting, audio-visual, electronic security device to a control system to achieve a unified control. This holistic program fully functional, unified user experience, but requires professional installation, but also expensive. Domestic manufacturers generally choose cooperation with real estate developers, before loading the main market, but the relatively slow rate of adoption.
The second category: internet. International line of consumer electronics companies to develop a set of software protocols put their products as a platform to connect, and then let the other manufacturers to join its ecosystem through open protocols. Samsung SmartHome and Haier U + smart home operating system is the concept. Samsung TV from a strong cut and mobile phones, Haier is the leading edge with white goods admission.
The third category: based router / gateway mode cut, replace the router with the popularity of such products to reduce the threshold into the home, the family occupation data entry, and then gradually integrate other products. Recently a lot of players on the market an intelligent router. Millet is a high profile among household model to demonstrate the ability to integrate with router millet millet smart.
These four categories taking the platform of thinking, the threshold is high and long cycle. Most entrepreneurial teams and manufacturers to choose the fourth strategy: a single product. The single-function products to achieve the ultimate, single-point break into the home, and then gradually expand the product line, try to integrate another product. Nest (before Google acquired), Dropcam, BelkinWeMo, Smartthings, Hue, ink weather, magic Tang intelligent, Bo, Ou Ruibo, as well as most of the household electrical appliance enterprises and create intelligent hardware passengers are taking this product direction.
Currently, Google, Amazon, Apple have a platform thinking into the smart home market, and to measure the success of a platform, the most important indicator is the number of third-party cooperation home hardware vendors. In this one, Apple’s data can not be optimistic, far behind rivals.
In Apple’s official website, HomeKit relevant information so far only 16 of Apple hardware partners, as a comparison, Google’s Nest platform already has 70 hardware partners, Amazon’s Alexa voice assistant has received nearly more than 40 smart home related hardware partners. Almost at the same time, and Apple, Google and Amazon to get more support smart home hardware partners. In addition, part of the smart home platform Samsung Electronics SmartThings, the amount of hardware partnership is far more than Apple.
Through a number of strategies to finally return to the consumer market, the smart home breakthrough lies in the product itself, in fact, at this point, a small company’s experience, they pick one or two single product into the severe vertical deep plowing. Products continue grinding, focus on service and user experience.
In April, Google competitors Nest, Utah smart home vendors Vivint recently received $ 100 million in the first round of venture capital financing. Vivint around its own intelligent doorbell established a small ecology. Vivint addition to selling its own intelligence can doorbell, but also sales nest thermostat and Amazon Echo. Vivint themselves as more intelligent home services company, not the product manufacturer. Just pay the $ 54 monthly service fee (starting standard), Vivint will send a professional team to help users install the smart home appliances, including smart light bulbs, thermostats and door locks, and to control the application by Vivint the Sky all.
Ourui Bo is also a single point from the layout of the smart home startups, the company has launched a variety loved by the users and industry influence of smart home products, including smart socket S20, IR remote control and intelligent Allone gas alarm Kepler like. 2015 Ou Ruibo completed 78 million yuan A + round of financing, this round of financing is mainly used to build smart home ecosystem layout. Currently, ORVIBO Ourui Bo joint NVC, Skyworth Group, Op lighting, electrical and other tannoy more than 60 well-known electrical, electronics, lighting brands, jointly issued the smart home 2.0 strategies to achieve cross-brand, cross-linkage between products and technology interaction.
How far we go out of embarrassment
Venture company has been integrated into the capital market is also very promising, the general population does not seem to be interested in the situation. Faced with the embarrassing situation, in addition to a substantial decline in the price of smart home products, intelligent solve practical issues, industry experts pointed out: the current smart home and smart appliances in the development of the road there are some much-needed leap “flawed”:
First, smart low intelligence, or even unwise, the name of “smart” brand, the actual product from a real sense of intelligent control technology with a difference, in function, not even a little bit of “intelligence.” For example, the sensor chips to be improved, the perception of home as a sensor outside the entrance, both in voice, temperature, humidity, indoor location, image, touch, smell, etc. to be improved in order to achieve accurate judgments and delivery.
Second, the Internet barrier, reach the “interconnection, interoperability, mutual control” between appliances, the product is still in the “closed door” individual control stage, unable to meet the overall interconnection needs of consumers, families were split into multiple different brands an “island”, completely lost smart effect.
Third, intelligent ruthless, many companies do not tap the human potential of home appliances, smart home really did not let play its family warmth, love and other human needs, which a lot of smart home segments to be excavated, using a more streamlined process, an appropriate combination sharing mode, arise explosion models worth the wait.
Smart Home applications require underlying base protocol and unified interface, more application content, better scalability and functionality of mobile Internet applications, environmental factors ultimately control, appliance operation control, energy-saving control, elements of life supply, and other interactive elements from semi-automatic to fully automatic or wisdom, to provide people with more and more comfortable home life. It will unify all future smart home appliances, network, gateway information within the family, and other intellectual application platform docking, become an indispensable household wisdom internet.
