Worldwide Shipments of Smart Home Devices Continue to Decline in 2023 Due to Lack of Upgrades

Global shipments of smart home devices continued to decline in the first quarter of 2023 as shipments fell 5.6% year over year to 186.0 million units, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC) Worldwide Quarterly Smart Home Device Tracker. The lack of new models and noteworthy updates to existing smart speakers, lack of progress in voice assistants, and the transition to the Matter smart home interoperability standard are to blame.

Nordic Semiconductor has announced that its nRF5340 high-end multiprotocol Bluetooth 5.2 System-on-Chip (SoC) has entered volume production. The world’s first dual Arm Cortex-M33 wireless SoC is now available and offers all the advanced features and security required for the next-generation of connected audio applications including LE Audio and advanced wearables. The new SoC is now widely commercially available through Nordic’s distribution network.

The exploding popularity of smart speakers in China is confirmed by findings from the latest Strategy Analytics consumer survey. The report, 2019 Smart Speaker User Survey – China Results, found that 63% of people who do not currently use a smart speaker plan to buy one within the next year. Another 22% say they will purchase a smart speaker later on, suggesting that smart speakers overall should reach at least another 85% of the population.

The Smart Audio Report Spring 2019 is part of the industry's longest-running public research series about smart speaker consumer behavior in the U.S.. The updated research reveals how smart speaker user behavior and perceptions are evolving as owners 'settle in' with their devices and the market matures out of its introductory phase. According to the survey promoted by NPR And Edison Research, seven-in-ten smart speaker owners use their device daily despite common concerns around security and privacy, while those same factors are leading reasons non-owners have not acquired a device.

The Consumer Electronics (CE) Team at Futuresource Consulting recently published the latest findings from its World Wide Smart Home industry report, which forecasts nearly 110 million smart home devices will be shipped worldwide in 2018. This equates to a retail value of almost $17 billion and demonstrates strong growth in both volume and value. Security and monitoring, followed by climate control and smart speakers are the dominating categories.

Parks Associates' new report "Global Connected Living Outlook: Expanding IoT Momentum" reports 27% of U.S. broadband households own at least one smart speaker, and that nearly 40% of consumers planning to purchase a smart home device find interoperability with either Amazon or Google personal assistants is important. Parks Associates's research on Home Security also reveals that 75% of home security installations in 2017 included smart control features.