Report Predicts Google, Apple to Dominate Home Security Market in 20 Years

Research firm Citigroup predicts that self-serve security solutions from tech firms like Google and Apple will make up 62.5 percent of the home security market in 20 years.

SILICON VALLEY, Calif. – Tech companies, such as Google and Apple, have recently thrown their hats in the home security/home automation ring, and according to some research firms, the companies’ self-serve solutions will soon become the norm in the home security market.

There are currently three types of home security on the market. The first group includes industry giants, such as ADT, that professionally install and monitor home security solutions. Those firms, which also include telecoms, such as Comcast and AT&T, represent 93 percent of the home security market, according to research firm Citigroup.

The next group includes companies such as SimpliSafe, Frontpoint and Protect America, which offer self-installed and professionally monitored systems. These companies have 4.7 percent market share, Business Insider reports.

The last group includes self-installed and self-monitored systems like Google’s Nest and Dropcam or Apple’s HomeKit-enabled devices that allow users to set up their home security and use notifications to enabled devices to alert people. For these services, there is no human monitoring the home security. Currently, these firms control 2.3 percent of the market, but Citigroup predicts that it won’t be for long.

RELATED: Google Eyes Home Security, While Apple Ponders Smart Home Market

Citigroup estimates that in the next five years, self-installed and monitored systems will control 34% of the market, while traditional professionally installed and monitored systems will slip to 61.6%.

Based on those projections, the research firm expects that in 20 years, the numbers will switch with self-monitored systems holding 62.5% of the market and professional services making up 31.3%.

Citigroup offers a few reasons for the growth, noting that consumers under the age of 45 years old are more likely to purchase security equipment from a tech firm or repair store and install the systems themselves.

This is important, because as more and more millennials begin to purchase homes, Citigroup seems to think their preference for tech companies and knowledge of smart devices will translate into more self-installed systems, Business Insider reports.

But all hope is not lost for professionally monitored systems. In its report, Citigroup cited two reasons why consumers cannot count traditional home security systems out:

  • Connected-home devices have not shed the reputation of being complicated to install and operate. For example, if users want to connect a smart thermostat, they would have to install a home automation controller and then install the thermostat physically. Users would then have to link the thermostat with the controller, and ultimately learn how to operate the device.
  • Consumers are sensitive to the steep upfront costs of automating the home a la carte. With the benefit of purchasing services individually as a customer sees fit, comes the inconvenience and elevated expense of assembling a comprehensive DIY security system. Given the expected expense as well as the abundance of devices highlighted below, it may take consumers several years to catch up to the market.

RELATED: Report: DIY, Cable Companies Not a Problem for ADT

Additionally, many professionally monitored companies, like ADT, are beginning to offer self-monitored apps and connectivity with hardware such as Nest and others in order to try to capture some of the market, according to the Citigroup report.

 

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