Plume: consumer demand for IoT devices including smart TVs growing fast

Consumers have a growing appetite for IoT and smart home technologies including smart TVs, smart speakers and set-top boxes, according to technology outfit Plume’s latest IQ Smart Home market report.

Globally, the number of smart TVs rose by 22% between the first half of 2021 and the first half of 2022, while smart speakers have increased by 24% – significant growth rates though lower than those for cameras, at 55% and smart doorbells, at 43%.

Year-on-year growth in home hubs amounted to 38%.

Data consumption has also risen by 11% across the Plume Cloud. Data consumption via smart TVs is up by 34%, while that via speakers is up by 27%. Growth in data consumption via set-top boxes meanwhile lags somewhat but is still up by 7%.

The use of media players such as iPods, Blu-ray, and home cinema receivers, however, has decreased by 14%, indicating a preference by consumers for streaming video services using smart TVs or set-top boxes.

The same trend can be seen in the average hours of device use per day, as smart TVs’ busy hours have increased by 27% while media players’ busy hours have decreased by 20%, according to Plume.

Plume found that the global average number of connected devices per home now standing at 17.1, up 10% from 15.5 in the first half of 2021.

It found that the biggest change is in Europe, where the average number of devices per Plume household jumped by 13%, from 15.4 to 17.4.

Smartphones remain the most popular device in Plume-powered homes, averaging over six per household across all locations, including guest devices that are allowed access to the network. Plume-powered homes in the US meanwhile have the highest penetration of connected devices to date, with an average of 20.2 per home.