The smart home market is set to emerge "by stealth," Futuresource reports-- once a consumer buys a first connected device, they will be keen to automate further, leading to slow but steady growth.
The conclusion comes from a survey of over 4000 consumers in France, Germany, the UK and the USA covering smart home devices (including smart/Voice Personal Assistant speakers), appliance ownership, perceptions and purchase intent. Respondents are segmented into 4 different levels (non-adopters, beginners, intermediate and advanced), as based on the number of smart home devices owned.
![Futuresource smart home](http://www.ftp-sgpartners.net/tdceu/uploads/uploaded/2017-06-Smart-Homefuturesource.png)
Among the 4 countries, the USA is the one with the highest penetration, with 38% of respondents having at least 1 smart home device installed. Germans are the most resistant to smart home devices, as only 20% own at least 1 such device. Audio and video content make a common first step into automation, as 2 out of 3 respondents consider music and other AV content as "important" in the smart home context.