Almost 30 Percent of Smart Homes Are Equipped with Surveillance Cameras

Surveillance cameras can be found in nearly a third of all smart homes in the US, UK, Germany, and France, according to Strategy Analytics. The surveillance camera is the second-most popular device overall.

Popularity of those devices in the US, UK, and Germany came in just behind smart thermostats, while in France they were slightly more popular than smart thermostats. Additionally, on average, 60 percent of all smart homes in these countries with at least one camera have two or more cameras. Consumers across the four countries included in the survey mentioned Nest, Amazon (via Blink and Ring), and Arlo most frequently.

In the US, the millions of subscribers to residential interactive security services placed cameras from ADT and Vivint in the top five brands. In the UK, Hive cameras offered by Centrica Connected Home were marginally more popular than Nest and Arlo. The brand landscape in Germany and France were similar in their diversity, with many smaller Chinese and regional European brands mentioned with the same frequencies as Nest, Arlo, and Amazon.

“Surveillance cameras have found a place in millions of smart homes, in spite of concerns over privacy and hacking, which suggests the benefits outweigh the risks for many consumers. Their popularity among consumers is driven more by what the devices do and less by what software features or which hardware components the devices are equipped with. The two most powerful purchasing drivers are how they help consumers feel secure and how they give consumers peace of mind to know their families and homes are safe,“ said Jack Narcotta, Senior Industry Analyst in Strategy Analytics’ Smart Home Strategies advisory service.

“Surveillance cameras are potent assets smart home companies can use to attract new customers, as they provide consumers the feelings of safety and security in and around their homes, a potentially powerful value proposition that can be replicated in all markets. Those benefits, however, will become more challenging for some brands to promote as cameras become more of a mass market smart home device. Brands will need to create innovative features to help them find solid footing to compete with Nest, Amazon, and Arlo,“ added Bill Ablondi, Director of Strategy Analytics’ Smart Home Strategies advisory service.