CEDIA reveals the results of its 2017 survey looking into the trends and services of the UK home technology market-- one showing the industry anticipates healthy annual growth in 2018 turnover.
Conducted in H2 2017 together with Futuresource, the CEDIA survey aims to conduct comprehensive research into the UK professional smart home market. It involved both members and non-members, and consisted of 76 questions covering business functions, installation types, equipment choices, workforce size and the areas installers consider most important for their businesses.
“We are pleased to announce the results of our research project,” CEDIA EMEA says. “This extensive survey provides the industry with strong comparative data and has helped to identify vital market trends and offer a greater understanding of the UK smart home market. The findings for 2016–2017 show that our industry is extremely prosperous, as well as providing insight into future changes and likely developments moving forward.”
The survey shows the average total gross turnover per installation company was £1.3 million in 2016, a 33% increase on 2012. Participants project the total will rise by a furter 17% in 2017. Installers report growth in the higher value projects as a share of their business. Projects costing £50000 or more account for 26% of 2016 projects, compared to 19% in 2013.
In contrast, installations worth £3000 or less are down by over 30%. In 2013, projects of such size represented 18% of all residential installations, but in 2016 the total is down to 12%, and is expected to shrink to 7% in 2017.
There is an increase in projects involving security systems-- the average number of projects completed by installers per year involving security has doubled since 2013. Installation companies are also increasingly offering maintenance and aftercare, since 77% already offer this and nearly 75% of the remainder plans to do so within 2 years.
Also seen recently is a rapid uptake and popularisation of voice control installations. Around 4 in 10 of companies have installed such systems in the past year, and installers expect the total to grow to 8 in 10 companies within the next 2 years.
The market research is available for free to CEDIA members. Non-members who participated in the survey can get a free abridged version of the report.