feature: connected appliances Making the connection
We live in a connected society, and our appetite for being constantly in touch with friends and family is seemingly showing no signs of abating. This connectivity is now extending its reach into all aspects of our lives, and one area currently experiencing a rise in interest is the connected appliance. In our second feature this month, we look at the rise of the connected home.
T
o give some context to the idea of a connected home, Sarah Selzer of PR
Direct offers her take on The International Home & Housewares Show as a bellwether for upcoming trends. “Owned and run by the IHA (International Housewares Association), the show takes place every March in Chicago with over 2,200 exhibitors from 50 countries and 60,000 attendees from 130 countries. The show, which will be known as The Inspired Home Show from next year, covers a broad spectrum of housewares, divided up into show expos and including a large proportion of Smart Home, connected and USB-charged products. “These are concentrated in the main ‘Wired
& Well’ show expo in the Lakeside hall but also on other stands throughout the show – in the North and South halls. There is a dedicated Smart Home Pavilion outside the Wired & Well expo which hosted over thirty smart tech companies – some were start-ups like Chicago-based food tech start-up Ovie. Funded by Kickstarter and available in the US for pre- order at the moment, the Smarterware storage system is an ingenious way of cutting down on food waste through a series of SmartTags which alert you when ingredients are heading past their use-by dates. “You will find established brands entering
into the smart home market – Storebound is a big player in SDA over in the US (its line-up includes the Dash brand of items like digital blenders, air fryer ovens and an express egg cooker). Last year it launched a new ‘smart tech furniture’ brand, Sobro. Starting with a coffee table (which raised $2 million through crowdfunding, becoming one of the top 20 crowdfunding campaigns to date), new side tables were previewed at the Chicago show in March. This product expands on the features offered by the coffee table – from wireless charging, thermoelectric cooling drawer and LED lighting to Bluetooth speakers and smart sleep features. “Throughout the show, the visitor experience is enhanced by the growing platform the IHA
gives at the show to Smart Home, start-ups, entrepreneurs (Inventors’ Corner), and student designers (one of this year’s winners was a wireless home security system for the hearing impaired).” Turning to the major brands, Keval Shah, Head of Marketing at Beko plc, sees the market almost doubling in size this year. “According to market research firm Futuresource Consulting, 56 million smart appliances will be shipped in 2019, up from 25 million in 2018. The demand for connected products will continue to grow across both SDA and MDA, particularly products that have the ability to make people’s lives easier. We anticipate appliances that you can manage
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remotely will continue to surge. Products that forewarn the owner of an issue via a mobile app, such as a partially clogged filter eliminate a potential issue or cost, ultimately improving consumer/manufacturer relationship.” Nick Platt, business director, built-in appliances, Hoover Candy UK, highlights the importance of smart technology adoption as a key factor in this growth. “We’ve recently seen a huge shift in consumers adopting smart technology in many areas of the home, including a significant rise in the uptake of artificial intelligence (AI). This has led to an increase in sales of connected appliances as the
July / August 2019
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