Interconnected smart home devices are not yet widespread in households, but there is a great potential for future growth.

This was shown in a recent representative survey, conducted by YouGov on behalf of gfu Consumer & Home Electronics GmbH. Depending on the type of device, between 1% and 18% of households surveyed in Germany and the UK currently use smart home solutions. A larger number were interested in intelligent lighting control, with 30% of those surveyed in Germany saying they could imagine themselves using such devices in the future.

Survey respondents were also asked how they would prefer to control their smart home. For example, is it enough to control and monitor these devices via an app, or would respondents be interested in giving voice commands to Siri, Alexa, or the Google Assistant? Most current smart home solution owners believed control via an app was sufficient. Of those surveyed, 54% in the UK and 51% in Germany said that app control was good enough, and they did not usually issue voice commands. However, 35% of smart home device owners in Germany and 26% in the UK reported that they prefer to control their smart home by voice wherever possible.