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ABI Research Sees Home Entertainment as the Beachhead for Home Automation (3/7/2006)

Of all the household products and systems that might benefit from automation and control, home entertainment will offer the path of least resistance for vendors, according to a new study from ABI Research.

"Home entertainment is the key application that will provide traction for the home automation market," says senior analyst Sam Lucero.

Home automation has been around in two forms for at least 30 years. Commercial systems offering control of lighting, climate, appliances, security, and more have long been available from companies such as AMX and Crestron. They are sophisticated and expensive. At the other end of the scale, X-10, an inexpensive powerline-based technology, has been embraced by hobbyists and tinkerers, but has proved too limited and complicated for mass adoption.

The large market in the middle has remained untapped, but that may be about to change. With the relatively recent introduction of interoperable new technologies such as Z-Wave, ZigBee, and INSTEON, new vendors such as Intermatic, Monster Cable, and Universal Electronics have entered the market, targeting mainstream households.

Home theater systems are increasingly making their way into middle-class homes, and consumers clearly want to integrate their multimedia into residential life. Although home automation can control heating, cooling and ventilation, safety, security and access systems, pools and spas, appliances, and irrigation, vendors will find automation systems supporting home entertainment (control of lighting and curtains, for example) gaining the earliest mass market acceptance.

"Most people in the mainstream market just don't know about home automation technology, what it can do for them, or how it's implemented," Lucero adds. "Customer education is a key challenge for vendors."

For that reason, ABI Research believes that high-touch retail will be best model for informing customers and deploying automation systems in their homes. "Certain subsystems may be amenable to off-the-shelf sales, but more complex systems require a consultative sales model, which can be provided by stores such as Magnolia and M-Design."

ABI Research's study "Home Automation and Control" examines the technologies, companies, and market forces that are poised to make home automation and control a mainstream phenomenon. It forms part of the firm's Home Networking and M2M Research Services.

www.abiresearch.com