Exclusive Interview - Ben Piper - Strategy Analytics

60 Second Interview with Ben Piper
Director - Multiplay Market Dynamics, Digital Consumer Practice - Strategy Analytics
Ben spoke at Connected Home Americas 2011

You recently conducted a survey which outlined the consumer perspectives on smart home applications in North America and Europe - what were your topline findings, especially in relation to interest levels and monetization options?
- We have just tabulated and analyzed results from our Q3’11 US Survey of 2,000 households.  We asked respondents questions around a variety of smart home applications, including IP Security and Monitoring, Home Controls, Remote Energy Management, and Telepresence.  We found highest “generic” interest in home security (72% said they were “somewhat” or “very interested”)and monitoring as well as home controls (65% “somewhat” or “very interested.  The issue, we found, is translating that consumer interest into willingness to pay—a much smaller percentage of those interested indicated any willingness to pay for it as a service.
 
Let's focus on Security and Energy Management - what are you forecasting for subscriber uptake and revenue opportunities?
- We see the Service Provider Smart Home Application market, which in our analysis comprises Home Security and Control, Remote Energy Management, and Telepresence, as the next “billion dollar opportunity” for Service Providers. We see these applications generating $1 billion of service revenue in the US by the end of 2013.
 
What would you say is imperative that service providers focus on to bolster consumer interest and readiness in Smart Home Applications
- There are a few things they need to focus on: the interest is there—the willingness to pay is not.  In our analysis, we have identified monthly fee “sweet spots” for each of the applications—announced pricing in this area is way off the mark, and will need to be addressed. Secondly, SPs need to look at SHAs in a different way.  While they do represent an additional RGU, monetization need not follow the traditional voice-video-data model.  Indeed, we think that SPs will need to be creative in how they build business models around this, whether it be a demonstrated ROI model, freemium, ad based, etc.

Ben spoke at Connected Home Americas. His presentation on Examining Market Readiness and Consumer Interest in Smart Home Applications took place at 1.40pm on Day 1 (October 18th)


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