Surveillance cameras can be found in nearly a third of all smart homes in the U.S., UK, Germany, and France according to new research published in Strategy Analytics’ report “Smart Home Survey – Surveillance Cameras.”

The research group says the surveillance camera is the second-most popular device overall. Popularity of surveillance cameras in the U.S., UK, and Germany came in just behind smart thermostats; in France, surveillance cameras were slightly more popular than smart thermostats. Additionally, on average, 60 % of all smart homes in these countries with at least one camera have two or more cameras.

Consumers across the four countries included in Strategy Analytics’ 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,” said Jack Narcotta, senior industry analyst in Strategy Analytics’ Smart Home Strategies advisory service. “Surveillance cameras’ 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 for surveillance cameras are how they help consumers feel secure and how they give consumers peace of mind to know their families and homes are safe.”