Automated kitchen appliances, video surveillance systems, speech-activated robot butlers and postal delivery via drone – this is the everyday world science fiction authors pictured for the 21st century. But today, what was once seen as far in the future is almost mundane. The intelligent, comfortable smart house is no longer a dream; it is the reality we live in. Fittingly, for the second time this year, a special exhibition on the theme of smart homes will take place at IFA, showcasing the most innovative and exciting parts of the industry at the conference.

Smart home technology is multifaceted: light bulbs that automatically adjust to different lighting conditions, Wi-Fi-enabled kitchen appliances that can prepare food almost by themselves, smart door locks that can be opened and closed with an App. The emergency bracelet developed by our client Zembro also falls into the realm of the smart home within the category of ambient assisted living. It provides an age-appropriate assistant system allowing seniors to have self-sufficient lives with the aid of innovative technology. The connected health industry is also making its way into the smart home. Other HBI clients are also active in the smart home industry: the robot assistant Lynx from UBTECH Robotics can process any verbal request through a connection to Amazon Alexa, and the smart home camera Arlo from Netgear makes it possible to monitor your entire house on the go.

The list of companies and products dedicated to turning ordinary households into intelligent technology centers is growing longer. Smart homes are a profitable business, after all. According to a study by the German survey group Statista, the number of smart households will grow to 4.1 million by 2021. This trend has also been confirmed in Germany: in a survey of over 1,000 individuals, 39 percent said they were interested in smart home technology and 21 percent said they were very interested. The public is ready to adopt smart technologies in their homes – many have already done so. Survey statistics show that smart home technologies have long remained in the early adopter phase, but the smart house market volume is worth 13.2 billion Euros worldwide, and estimates show that value will continue to increase. Germany is in the center of this movement: with almost a 1.3 million Euro turnover in the smart home market, Germany ranks third in the world.

The innovation found in smart home technology is in large part due to the great number of startups making waves in the industry. Startup Days @ IFA NEXT provides a forum for these young companies. Many of them work in the smart home, IoT and connected health industries, and are just now setting foot in the promising German market for the first time, competing with industry giants in a new race of innovation and market shares. In order to succeed, it is critical that companies stay in the limelight after IFA, too.

If you would like to break into the German market too, you can find five important aspects that must be observed during market entry in our “Go to Market” whitepaper. A comprehensive integrated PR and marketing strategy is imperative. You are also invited to contact us directly to learn more about IFA. We look forward to seeing you in Berlin!

https://www.hbi.de/en/2018/08/07/events/?preview_id=5959&preview_nonce=ecb54013b4&_thumbnail_id=5961&preview=true