The rise of smart home technology and the benefits for app developers

A number of tech trends have popped up over the last year. The mobile app market has seen advancements in everything from augmented reality to facial recognition software but one of the biggest developments has come in the form of smart home technology. In fact, the growing global smart home industry is predicted to reach the $40 billion mark by 2020.

A number of global tech companies, including Google, Amazon and Apple, have recently invested a lot of resources to join the smart home market. A move which has helped to push the industry further forward. As well as a number of new flagship products such as Google Home and Amazon Echo, the new trend has birthed the development of numerous successful home automation apps.

Major mobile marketplaces such as the Play Store and the App Store have seen the number of smart home apps increase rapidly over the last two years with the development of apps which control everything from lighting to media streaming. With so many new hardware developments in sectors ranging from energy management to home security, a door has now been opened for app developers to penetrate the smart home market by creating useful apps that improve the user experience and work in conjunction with popular hardware.

As it stands, the US is leading the charge in the smart home sector with the largest revenue streams ($599m as of 2015). However, countries such as Japan, Germany and the UK are showing increased figures as their respective markets begin to adopt the integration of smart home technologies. Although the market is growing rapidly, research shows a lot of potential within the market for new developers and businesses.

While global interest in smart home technology is increasing, the market is still in infancy as only 15% of people own a smart home appliance. This creates a lot of opportunity for the development of new products and services. Also, as the usage of smart home technology is done almost exclusively through mobile apps, developers have a unique opportunity to tap into a well of potential. The rise in smart home revenue figures, combined with increased global mobile usage, paints a lucrative picture for creative app developers.

Communication, appliance control, security, energy management and data protection are just a handful of the potential areas for development in the rapidly growing world of smart home technology.