Italy and the future of connected home appliances

A little over a year ago Isabelle Bousquette published an article in the Wall Street Journal exploring the frustration of appliance manufacturers on why "more than half" of consumers were not connecting their internet-enabled domestic appliances ... to the internet. At the time, we briefly reflected on some potential reasons.

AI is now providing a new lifeline to the OEM proponents of this paradigm with a much stronger value proposition, that however strongly depends on manufacturers being able to convince customers that they are really acting in their best interest, rather than locking them into a well-worn path of data extraction and progressive #enshittification (cit. Cory Doctorow , who spoke yesterday - Sunday! - evening to great acclaim in front of a packed Aula Magna of the Politecnico di Torino - right in my hometown in Italy - video here ), a.k.a. as "platform decay".

Domestic appliances are a historic industry of Italy, with a strong and proud culture of home care and home cleanliness (as we can only confirm through our own research) and decades of industrial experience (equally strong and proud) in fine mechanical engineering.

Yesterday Gianni Rusconi explored the new paradigm in an article for Il Sole 24 Ore newspaper. He explains how algorithms and sensor technology are positioned to extend the life of home appliances - particularly those of Samsung and its articulations in SmartThings and Bespoke AI , Haier, Siemens, LG, BTicino, Nice and Beko (and its Italian AI partner Indigo ) - and "make them increasingly less demanding in terms of energy consumption, not surprisingly indicated as the first parameter of choice when buying a refrigerator in Italy".

Rusconi describes a vision, enabled by Matter (Google), where thermostats and light bulbs are gradually joined by refrigerators, washing machines, dishwashers and air conditioners, robot vacuum cleaners, smoke detection systems and air purifiers. But he also cautions (translation from Italian):

"The feeling is that, user-side, it will still take some time to reap the benefits of a truly interoperable connected appliance ecosystem, and it is not likely to be generative AI that will accelerate this process. Indeed, the applications of Gen AI are limited for the time being, and it is hard to imagine that these tools will be the killer app of tomorrow's smart home anytime soon, although Samsung itself is of the view that its voice assistant Bixby will become a key element in interacting with appliances at a more evolved level."

In comes the home appliance brand Candy, or better the Chinese 海尔 that owns Candy since 2018, and in particular its brand new Haier Europe CEO Neil Tunstall , who presented the company's new Internet of Things vision (page in Italian) at EuroCucina (event within the Milan Design Week), was interviewed by sara bennewitz in Repubblica newspaper yesterday (summary in English ), and also - more briefly - by Sara Tirrito in Corriere della Sera newspaper (also yesterday).

Haier Europe is clearly in on the game. It is strongly investing in Candy in particular in R&D, design and communication, thus placing Italy, Tunstall says, "at the heart of its European strategy". Tunstall mentions Candy's Brugherio center for the Internet of Things, in which the company is investing 140 million euro, and goes on:

"The consumer has always been at the center of Haier's strategy; we are sure that the homes of the future will have only smart appliances. I don't see why a consumer would buy a dumb washing machine when he can have one that is connected to the grid, knows energy costs, and can save him up to four-fifths on his utility bill. We invest in sustainability of materials, production processes and packaging, but we are convinced that the difference on the carbon footprint will be made by more conscious and energy-saving oriented consumption."

It is a promising approach, particularly if it can be integrated with innovative energy suppliers. And we cannot but endorse it. Yet, it needs to take Rusconi's concerns into account, and also be backed up by a data usage approach that addresses the concerns voiced by Bousquette and Doctorow above.

(Author: Mark Vanderbeeken)