Smart home has grown from the concept of hype to the launch of related products. Pieces of smart hardware have entered the living room, gradually improving the safety, convenience, and comfort of the home. In a blink of an eye, smart homes will usher in a new choice. On the one hand, consumers are "applauding and not admiring" the product, and on the other hand, huge amounts of funds are invested in the market. Where is the road ahead for smart homes?
Embryonic stage: home automation is the leadingCompared with other technology industries, the start of China's smart home industry is no later than abroad. In 1994, China's smart homes entered the embryonic stage. At that time, there were no companies specializing in smart home manufacturing, but the entire industry's familiarity with smart concepts and product recognition was very rapid.
When smart homes first appeared, home automation was even equivalent to smart homes. At that time, the first two domestic smart home companies appeared in Shenzhen. Their business was mainly acting as an agent for imported smart home products from the United States. The product they represented was the famous American home automation system X-10. The system mainly uses micro-processing electronic technology to integrate or control electronic and electrical products or systems in the home. Strictly speaking, it is not a "smart home", but a "home automation".
From 2000 to 2005, with the rapid development of real estate, the home furnishing market grew stronger, and smart homes also ushered in a broader space for development. More than 50 smart home R&D and production companies have appeared in China. However, these companies lack core technology and can only keep up with the pace of foreign products. They have always focused on the overall automation system, and their customers are concentrated in high-end markets such as high-end hotels, high-end residential areas, and foreign-owned buildings. The entire smart home market is like a "loft in the sky", having passed the stocking period that no one cares about.
Nevertheless, these toddler smart home companies have achieved good results. Nowadays, the lighting and home appliance automation functions in some high-end hotels are upgraded from the original system. It can be said that the concept of China's smart home is through the automated experience of these high-end hotels, from the reputation of customers one after another, into the field of vision of the general public. In this process of word of mouth, the discussion about the nature of smart homes has never been interrupted. Is automation intelligent? What is intelligence? This has always been a core issue in the industry.
The first crossroads: automatic or smart?
"Suddenly like a spring breeze coming overnight", China's Internet industry was in full bloom in 2006 and continued to affect more and more traditional industries. It is also this year that network technology has promoted the overall transformation of the home appliance industry, and a brand-new form of traditional home appliances-network appliances/information appliances debuted. The smart topic of China's home furnishing industry seems to have a new answer: Internet + smart home appliances.
At this time, foreign smart home brands entered the Chinese market. Its advanced smart technology and single products have once again opened up the eyes of the Chinese people. It turns out that smart homes can do this! The smart home brands currently active in the market, Legrand, Huo Nivelles, Schneider, Control4, etc. all entered the Chinese market during this period. Their concepts and products are the prototypes of smart home appliances today, which inspired the young Chinese smart home companies at that time.
This is the first development crossroad facing China's smart home industry, and it is basically an understanding of the concept of smart home. Is it to stick to the original mature automation system? Or to develop a new smart home experience? Obviously, they chose the latter, and the market recognized this answer.
In this big industry discussion, some automated home furnishing companies that lack core technologies have gradually withdrawn from the market. The surviving companies have gradually found their own development directions and promoted the progress of their intelligent products. For example, Tianjin Ruilang, which is familiar to us, focuses on home appliance control and network appliances; Qingdao Airhouse, which has created five AiHouse control systems; traditional home appliance brand Haier, uses U-home system as a platform to realize the Internet of things... these are now The leading brands were all companies that were successfully transformed at that time.
This reshuffle stage lasted until 2010, when China's smart home industry finally formed the benefits of industrial clusters and appeared in the public with a brand-new attitude. So far, China's smart home industry has successfully switched from the overall automation system to smart single products, and is poised to compete for tickets to the smart home market.
Outbreak stage: the market's enthusiasmSince 2010, the smart home industry has finally ushered in its best era. The huge amount of funds in the investment market, the widespread attention of the society, the support of relevant national policies, and the most important thing is the change in the concept of ordinary consumers, all of which have promoted the rapid development of the smart home industry.
On the international front, big tech giants have rushed to the "new blue ocean" of smart homes, triggering a global investment boom in the industry. In 2010, Nest, the world's first smart home product, was born. In 2012, SmartThings smart home wireless package crowdfunding $1.2 million. In 2013, LG, Panasonic, Qualcomm and others participated in the world's first smart home interconnection technology alliance. In January 2014, Google acquired Nest, a smart home company, for $3.2 billion. In the second half of the same year, Samsung purchased SmartThings with 200 million US dollars, Apple also released the HomeKit platform, and Amazon launched the smart home hardware Echo...
Domestically, traditional home appliance companies, consumer electronics cross-border companies, and Internet companies have participated in the war, and the scale of the smart home industry has continued to expand. In 2014, the market size of my country's smart home industry reached 29 billion yuan; in 2015, it was 40.34 billion yuan, an increase of 41% year-on-year; in 2017, the size of my country's smart home market will reach 90.8 billion yuan. In just six or seven years, the smart home industry has gone from tepid to fanatical pursuit. This is undoubtedly the best era.
At the same time, this is also the worst time. Under the enthusiasm of the market, smart home companies are becoming more and more impetuous, and the most direct manifestation is the "pseudo-smart" products that have been criticized.
Let's take a look at several smart home items that are difficult to describe. The first is the smart chopsticks "Chopsticks Search" launched by Baidu. The sensor at the bottom of it can detect information such as grease and salt, and remind users through Bluetooth and mobile phone whether the product they are eating is hygienic and healthy. The second model is the Naimo Coaster smart coaster, which can measure water temperature and water volume, record drinking habits through mobile phones, and remind users to drink water on time. There is also a smart egg box priced at 665 yuan, which tells the chef the freshness of each egg through sensors and mobile phone software. Finally, there is the Dream Flower smart vase, which is a vase that integrates multiple functions such as gateways, wireless routers, temperature and humidity sensors, CO2 sensors, adjustable colorful lights, PM2.5 detection, and noise detectors...
These inexplicable smart home items were all released and sold in 2014-2016. These smart home items all need to be used and identified by mobile phones, and the so-called smart functions are also forced and piled up. They make the actions of people eating, drinking, and frying eggs extremely complicated. The functions seem to be very intelligent, but they are not very practical and not easy to use.
The fact is also true, these products have not been widely recognized by the market, and soon disappeared under the light of conventional products such as smart speakers, smart door locks, and smart home appliances. The current situation of applause and scolding has also caused many smart home companies to start to think coldly and redefine the concept of smart home. The smart home industry has also ushered in the second development crossroads-the breakthrough stage.
Stir the funds or do a good job of the product, where is the way forward for smart home
On the one hand, consumers are "applauding but not popular" with products, on the other hand, the investment market is enthusiastic about smart concepts. Today's situation makes smart home companies in a dilemma.
In fact, the dilemma is not unique to smart homes. The current emerging industries such as VR, biometrics, and smart transportation are all looking for ways out. Even in the process of the development of smart phones, high-priced and low-priced phones have been discussed more than once.
To change "dilemma" to "sufficiency", the editor believes that in order to create an intelligent life experience as the original intention, practically solve actual needs, and use a convenient and fast humanized experience, this should be the bottom line of smart home companies. It is also the best standard for smart homes when facing a decision.
Langrui Energy (Shenzhen) Co.,Ltd , https://www.langruienergy.com