Consumer IoT in 2016

2015 was certainly a momentum gaining year for Internet of Things, or at least for the buzz word. Consumers are feeling the allure of having information about their homes to improve convenience, comfort, energy efficiency and security. Enterprises can become more efficient but also more scalable with how they manage "things".

An interesting quote from Gartner says there will be 25 billion internet connected 'things' by 2020. Cisco is saying 50 billion! Looking at how many internet connected devices (46) are on my home network, the Gartner and Cisco prediction is not that surprising.

Whilst these devices are connected to the internet, the biggest problem with IoT is that each product has their own management from a vendor that does a specific task very well. There is nothing defined to link IoT devices together easily. For example I have 2 Nest devices at home which can work in tandem however this product doesn't link with my Yale Smart Lock. Although there is a Nest API which with development it could work. This is echoed with wireless security cameras, fridges and alarm systems. Yes they are all connected devices but I wouldn't call them "smart" if they have no interconnected logic.

See my IoT Christmas Tree post about creating an IoT device that has no integration.

An example of how these devices could be linked intelligently; Someone has gained access to my house, Nest which has presence detection, cameras which have motion detection, Yale lock which is still locked and Samsung SmartThings which knows no family members with key fobs are in the vicinity of home. Some\all of this logic would be able to trigger alerts but this is not possible. The technology is there and IoT clearly exists, but the constituent devices are yet to be amalgamated to be truly "smart".

Why? Good old ecosystem for a start. The personal device market has been the most visible for this issue. I buy a Windows 10 Laptop, a Samsung Tablet and an iPhone, would I expect them to work well together? Hardly. If I want that, then I need to invest 100% into a single vendor for all my devices.

The consumer IoT market is turning into the same battlefield with possibly huge gains to be had by the "MicroAppleDroid". Think of it, consumers renew phones every 1-2 years, tablets every 2-3 years and laptops 3-4 years (guestimate). How often do you change\upgrade your heating control system, alarm system or fridge! The battle for consumer IoT supremacy could well dictate the mobile device market if it is tied to ecosystem in the future, especially as the smartphone is a critical part of how we will interact with the IoT. 

Another concern in consumer IoT is the risk of the company you invest in, for your expensive IoT device, going bust after you make the purchase. After all these products generally have a SaaS backend and while you are buying the hardware you are also relying on the software backend being there forever, which it might not be. Read about the demise of Aether Cone and Rdio. Purchasers of this product now own an Internet of Nothing device.

Security or rather the amount of R&D these IoT companies devote to security is also a massive issue here but too lengthly to go into detail here.

The enterprise IoT (or M2M) market is seemingly different. After all if I am a hospital with a medical fridge temperature monitoring system, then I won't be buying Nest. The fridge manufacturer will build in a cost effective solution that is scalable. Alternatively if the enterprise is manufacturing the IoT device themselves then they will use something like QNX to build their own interface, security and ability. This is different to the EMM ecosystem where the enterprise and consumers had the same platform and solution choices.

So 2016 is going to be an interesting year to see how this market develops. Apple's IoT strategy is developing frameworks for connected devices using HomeKit, also focusing on connected car markets, Google is acquiring best in breed IoT companies like Nest to build their ecosystem, Samsung is developing their own hardware and Microsoft is investing in startups but ultimately it is the consumers that will have to choose which team they should buy into if they want to be on the cutting edge of smart homes, cars and cities. Alternatively wait unless the dust settles in 2017 and beyond for a safer bet. 

For me I will invest my money in IoT despite the risks involved because it simply satisfies my inner geek  :)