Home automation shipments to grow 50-fold by 2013 as technology goes mainstream, says Parks

September 26, 2008 - Two new approaches to home automation - 'mainstream' systems based on standardised technologies and packages components, and home automation as a managed service offered by a broadband or wireless service provider - have such potential that research firm Parks Associates is projecting that shipments will increase 50-fold between 2007 and 2013.

Sam Lucero, senior analyst at ABI Research, commented: “Home automation systems are becoming more mainstream and managed services are growing. ABI Research believes that they will appeal to a much wider public. Our forecasts indicate that the overall market will grow from a modest 237,000 systems shipped in 2007, to more than 4 million systems in 2013.”

The lion's share of this growth is expected to occur in the segments of mainstream services, based on standard technologies and packaged components, as well as software that is integrated into other devices in the home, such as set-top boxes and typically sold via retail outlets and installed by home builders; and managed services, which are expected to show the strongest growth of all, with a projected 1.3mn shipments in 2013 as broadband service providers start to partner with automation vendors (such as 4Home, Portus, iControl and uControl), which provide functionality and remote monitoring via a computer or smartphone, as part of so-called "quintuple play" services.