Germ Concern Over Shared Surfaces Will Help Push Near 30% Growth in Smart Home Voice Control
Greater emphasis and understanding and, above all, a change of habit and experience in moving away from physical actuation toward using voice in the home will support greater smart home expansion throughout individual homes.
A global emphasis on working from home, combined with advice to minimize COVID-19 transmission from shared surfaces even within a home, will help cement the benefits of smart home voice control for millions of consumers, according to ABI Research. Last year, 141 million voice control smart home devices shipped worldwide. Despite the key China market being impacted during the first quarter of 2020, the value of voice control during the pandemic will ensure that this year, voice control device shipments will grow globally by close to 30% compared to 2019.
Key among the recommendations regarding COVID-19 protection in the home is to clean and disinfect high-touch surfaces daily in household common areas (e.g., tables, hard-backed chairs, doorknobs, light switches, remotes, handles, desks, toilets, and sinks). “A smarter home can be a safer home,” said Jonathan Collins, research director at ABI Research. “Voice has already made significant inroads into the smart home space and voice control can mean avoiding commonly touched surfaces around the home from smartphones, to TV remotes, light switches, thermostats, door handles and more. Voice can also be leveraged for online shopping and information gathering.”