- Analysis of the smart home market presents attractive business models
- The QIVICON Smart Home Advisor is now available to help consumers find optimal solutions
The connected home allows companies in many different sectors to grow. This is the key finding of a recent market analysis carried out by Deutsche Telekom. The 40-page report makes it clear that an open, non-proprietary platform will be the basis for success in the smart home market. Companies that offer solutions based on such a platform will profit from economies of scale, and consumers will benefit as well, because an open platform will promote innovation and maximize their choices. The market analysis describes promising business models for a number of different sectors.
"Now that thousands of new connectable devices are becoming available, all the euphoria about the possibilities is no longer just hype," notes Holger Knöpke, Vice President, Connected Home, Deutsche Telekom AG. "But companies will have to cooperate actively if a real mass market is to develop."
The QIVICON Smart Home Advisor is now available online
In addition to assisting companies focusing on the smart home sector, Deutsche Telekom is now advising consumers on smart home solutions as well. The virtual smart home advisor is now available to help customers build tailored smart home packages from the various products and apps offered by the QIVICON partner companies. The advisor walks consumers through their requirements and preferences step by step, in a process that leads to a list of recommended products of specific brands. For example, a consumer might be especially interested in improving his home's security systems against break-ins. The online advisor then will find a fitting solution from the many available products – and offer a wealth of additional information about related products and other options for the connected home.
About Deutsche Telekom
Deutsche Telekom is one of the world's leading integrated telecommunications companies with around 151 million mobile customers, 30 million fixed-network lines and more than 17 million broadband lines (as of December 31, 2014). The Group provides fixed-network, mobile communications, Internet and IPTV products and services for consumers, and ICT solutions for business customers and corporate customers. Deutsche Telekom is present in more than 50 countries and has approximately 228,000 employees worldwide. The Group generated revenues of 62.7 billion euros in the 2014 financial year – more than 60 percent of it outside Germany.
About QIVICON
QIVICON is an alliance of leading German industrial companies, initiated by Deutsche Telekom AG with the aim of promoting the field of Smart Home technology and providing solutions for customers on a multi-manufacturer basis. Together with its partners EnBW, eQ-3, Miele and Samsung, Deutsche Telekom has established a platform that covers areas such as energy efficiency, security and convenience in the home for people of every age group. QIVICON enables appliances and functions from different brands to be combined easily in the Smart Home.
As a member of Eclipse, QIVICON is also opening up its platform on the basis of Eclipse SmartHome for developers and startups that would like their ideas, apps, or devices a reality. The Eclipse Foundation is one of the largest independent developer communities.