Type of Article: MacTech Blog

Home automation was gaining attention and experiencing robust growth in 2014; however a new report by Argus Insights (www.argusinsights.com) reveals that sector is quickly losing steam.

The research group’s data shows that as of May 2015 consumer demand for connected home devices such as thermostats, lightbulbs, locks, sensors and cameras experienced its first drop below the level of a year ago, a sign that consumer interest is stagnating.

By the end of 2017, market demand for mobile app development services will grow at least five times faster than internal IT organizations’ capacity to deliver them, according to Gartner, Inc. (www.gartner.com).

Consumer ability to access the internet and connected services while in the car remains strong, making driving or parking tasks easier. While interest is especially high for services which provide traffic updates, weather updates, open parking spaces, and navigation instructions, interest in social media functionality remains low.

Limelight Networks (www.limelight.com), which specializes in digital content delivery, has released new data that shows consumers are nearly always plugged in and are increasingly updating and adding content to their phones and other connected devices.

A recent study from the In-vehicle UX group at Strategy Analytics (www.strategyanalytics.com) surveying consumers in the US and Western Europe has confirmed low interest in wearables for automotive use-cases.

While younger males and luxury car owners appeared to be most interested in the US, strong interest was below 20% across all Western European segments. Despite the market for wearables (and in particular smartwatches) poised for strong growth, wearables in automotive remain arguably a solution in search of a problem.