Parks Associates' annual conference set for Silicon Valley

DALLAS—Nearly 38 million U.S. households will have a smart home controller by 2021, generating more than $1.2 billion in recurring service revenue, according to research firm Parks Associates, which is hosting its 21st annual CONNECTIONS: The Premier Connected Home Conference, May 23-25, at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport.

The event includes pre-show research workshops highlighting new data and analysis from Parks Associates' research team and features more than 700 executives in an intimate networking environment. In addition to looking at the latest smart home research, the conference will highlight new distribution strategies for smart home and connected entertainment solutions. The event also brings together industry leading companies including Alarm.com, ADT, Nortek, Vivint, Nest Labs, Honeywell, Comcast, Verizon, and others, sharing insights and market data on the smart home and connected technologies.

Tom Kerber, director of IoT Strategy, Parks Associates, said the emergence of the smart home is forcing convergence of traditionally separate industries, creating new competition and opportunities for partnerships.

“We always look at multiple channels and try to understand the market dynamics from a what's working and what's not perspective, and that is still a key theme at the conference this year,” Kerber told Security Systems News, pointing out that the diversity of speakers is a reflection of the convergence in the smart home. “Attendees will hear perspectives from all angles and verticals and gain an understanding of how market and technology convergence is shaping the future,” he said.

Sridhar Solur, SVP of product and development for Xfinity Home, Internet of Things, and data services, Comcast, will provide the opening keynote, “Humanizing Connected Home Experiences: Using Machine Learning and Voice Control.”

“I'm delighted to discuss the new 'IoT' era we are living in and to separate the hype from reality, as we move from a world where things are being done by you to a world where things are being done for you,” Solur said in a prepared statement. “I am looking forward to outlining how we are bringing physical and digital security together at Comcast and sharing some best practices on integrating voice with machine intelligence.”

The conference will also feature keynote speakers Matt Eyring, chief strategy and innovation officer, Vivint Smart Home; Kristine Faulkner, senior vice president/general manager, COX Homelife, Cox Communications; Miles Kingston, GM of smart home, Intel; and Rahul Patel, SVP and GM of connectivity, Qualcomm Technologies, Inc.

Kerber pointed out that a key area of focus on the education side is on the role of voice in the smart home. “The voice piece is a huge catalyst for the industry, so we are trying to understand a little more nuance there,” he said. “Obviously everyone is doing a 'works with Alexa' or an integration, and it has been around for a while, but now the question is: Where is voice going? Is it going into individual products or is it going to be implemented independently? So how voice proliferates throughout the home, and where does Amazon and Google take these products moving forward?”

In terms of what is new on the education side, Kerber pointed to the emerging role of insurance companies in security.

“The insurance guys have always come and participated, but this year there is a dedicated panel on the insurance side,” he explained. “Technologies are coming out that are aligned with the insurance industry so that channel seems like it is poised for increased activity as new and existing products provide opportunities there.”

On the research side, Kerber said that Parks will highlight where the industry is currently at and where it is going. In its “Market Snapshot: Disruptive Forces in the Home Security Market,” Parks pointed out that in terms of volume the growth rate for the industry in 2016 was between 4- and 5 percent, and estimates the presence of a working security system at 23- to 25 percent of U.S. broadband households and the presence of professionally monitored security at 21- to 22 percent.

Of the nearly 25 percent of U.S. broadband households with a working and active security system, 65 percent plan to buy a smart home device within the year.

“So it is important how a company is positioning its offerings today,” said Kerber. “In the research that we have done it is not just about the security package, and you only get this new market share if you are offering security plus interactive services, and some home control devices around access control.”

Some additional opportunities exist in how companies transform smart home data (safely and securely) into information that creates benefits to customers, he said.