Lenovo Smart Assistant - Amazon Echo competitor with Alexa inside
The smart home market is at the cusp of exponential growth. By 2019, Internet of Things (IoT) manufacturers are expected to ship nearly two billion smart home devices to the tune of $490 billion in revenue.
Yet, the budding industry has yet to race towards full, mainstream adoption leaving us wondering – why have so many consumers been slow to embrace smart home technologies?
The reason is two-fold. First is the high cost barrier to owning IoT devices. Nearly two-thirds of consumers worldwide think IoT devices and services are too expensive – making price the number one hurdle to smart device ownership.2 And second, is the lack of customer-centric design in the development of these products – leading to consumer confusion about which IoT device best serves their needs. A recent survey revealed at least 23 percent of global consumers expressed uncertainty as to which smart home device would be useful to them.
