Plume has reached a major milestone: more than one billion unique client devices have been managed by cloud controllers of Plume on a global scale. This success coincides with a major shift in the way people use their technology at home for everyday comfort, entertainment and new work standards.
In today’s announcement, Plume is releasing data and information on smart home trends resulting from the increase in the number of devices, types of devices, hours of use and data used in smart homes.
Our homes contain more smart and connected devices offering unprecedented convenience, personalization and enjoyment. While the pandemic has accelerated and influenced some trends in device types and smart home usage patterns, Plume’s analysis of the number, type and usage of devices found that a large many of these trends were in place before the pandemic and are expected to continue after the pandemic as consumers embrace the value of smart homes as a whole. In addition to the expected increase in owners and users of smartphones, laptops and tablets, Plume has found that fitness equipment, security cameras, Personalized smart home experiences, the intuitive home, are the next big thing.
Consumers are now ready for the devices they use and the services that connect them all together to anticipate their needs and move beyond point solutions. This level of interoperability requires visibility and capacity that spans the entire home network and information from a massive, global data set. SPCs, device makers and app makers, are all rushing to meet this need. As the operator of the world’s largest cloud-managed SDN, Plume is at the center of it all.
Effect of the pandemic: COVID-19 has prompted consumers to increase the number of devices in the home. 1 The number of devices per U.S. household increased by 38% during the pandemic, rising to 18 devices per household on average, from 13 in October 2019. This reflects two trends commonly seen during periods of home lockdown: an increase in number of family members living under the same roof, with young people coming from university or from urban areas; and investing in technology as more time is spent at home. The most common smart home device has been the voice assistant, which increased in number by 28% from October 2019 to May 2021, followed by smart bulbs, which increased by 110%, and security cameras, which grew by 40%.
Prioritize physical fitness during the pandemic. 1 In the United States, there has been a rush in the United States to create home gyms, which is why smart fitness devices and wearable technologies have seen their popularity increase. Bikes and fitness trainers hit an all-time high, up 132% in May 2021 from October 2019. Tonal, in particular, saw 190% growth in the United States, with Peloton growth by 158% from October 2019 to May 2021. Wearable technologies and smartwatches grew by 51% during the same period. Apple’s smartwatch is the fastest growing one at 54% since October 2019.
Effect of entertainment: Home confinement and streaming. 1 Since consumers were forced to stay at home, they invested in smart entertainment devices to pass the time. Overall, entertainment-based smart home devices grew 16 ؘ% from October 2019 to May 2021. The most common smart entertainment category was TVs and streaming devices, which increased 34%. % from October 2019 to May 2021, while traditional set-top boxes increased by only 2%. In the entertainment device category, the fastest growth was in virtual reality, which grew by 223%.
Is the connected kitchen here to stay? 1 As many restaurants have closed due to the pandemic, consumers have spent more time preparing their own meals and prioritizing the convenience of high-tech in the home. Smart kitchen appliances hit an all-time high, rising 60% in May 2021 from October 2019. The range of stoves and ranges, in particular, grew 65% from October 2019 to May 2021.
Security in the smart home: Increasing use of the home network presents more cyberthreats. 1 As the number of smart devices has increased, so has the number of security threats. Between October 2019 and May 2021, the number of cyber threats blocked by Plume in American homes increased by 39%.
Lighting, safety and fitness are major players in Europe . 2 Due to the pandemic, European residents have had to deal with multiple restrictive containment measures and it is obvious that they have been looking for ways to make their homes more pleasant. The number of smart bulbs increased by 233 ؘ% and security cameras by 29% from May 2020 to May 2021. Voice assistants also grew by 13% during the same period. Additionally, European residents have been looking for ways to stay busy and active during this time as bikes and fitness trainers saw a 67% increase. In this category, Peloton was the most popular brand in Europe, with a growth of 82%.
Wearable technologies and smartwatches have exploded in Japan. 3 More and more Japanese residents have turned to new ways of monitoring their health as the category of wearable technologies and smartwatches increased by 127% between May 2020 and May 2021. Smartwatches, that of Apple in particular, is the most popular and fastest growing device category in Japan with an increase of 131% over the same period.
“This milestone is important because it marked the arrival of the truly connected smart home,” said Bill McFarland , CTO of Plume. “In the United States, we’re seeing 38% growth in the number of connected devices per household on our Cloud Managed Software Defined (SDN) network, and we think that’s just the tip of the hat. iceberg, as more and more consumers see the value and realize the promise of smart Wi-Fi and smart homes. ”
More than 200 communications service providers (CSPs) rely on Plume to improve the subscriber experience, which now serves more than 30 million sites worldwide . Plume’s AI algorithms continually optimize services for customers and take predictive and preventative actions, made possible only by the learnings of more than one billion devices that have already been connected to Plume’s SDN, including devices connected to home, guest, and community Wi-Fi networks managed by Plume’s cloud.
