Do you still remember the 5-year agreement concluded between Gree and Xiaomi in 2013? It's about to be seen in 2018. But 2018 is not the end, but the year when smart homes enter a new phase of IoT driving. The smart home market has a huge space, which is a combination of smart hardware, technology, platform and other software. Traditional home appliance manufacturers and Internet companies such as Xiaomi have their own unique advantages, division of labor, cooperation, and sharing of market opportunities. In the future, will the small ecological chain (Xiaomi model) be expected to become the dominant one of the large ecological chain (cross cooperation between hardware and Internet companies)?
Since 2018, with the emergence of various monetization models, smart homes have once again presented a new situation of integration and accelerated development: 1) Home appliance companies such as Midea and Gree have used artificial intelligence technology to increase the added value of products by intelligentizing traditional home appliances. . 2) Internet companies represented by Amazon and Xiaomi began to combine voice interaction with their own e-commerce business to realize the closed loop of "hardware-platform-e-commerce", opening up a new business model for smart homes. 3) Security companies such as Haikang provide cloud services and realize cash in the form of service charges.
The bottleneck of development is broken one by one: interconnection, human-computer interaction, enterprise monetization
1 How to connect home appliances? IoT helps home product interconnection and interoperability
1.1 Hardware internetization + smart home platform, home appliances can be interconnected
The development of smart home is a concept born with the Internetization of home products. Using Internet technology, the networking of consumer electronics, consumer appliances, and home furniture products in the home can realize the simplest intelligence, enrich control methods, and even bring new applications. Haier is a pioneer in the Chinese market. In 2012, it proposed to enter the networked strategic transformation stage, with the focus on the Internet of products.
The Internet-based exploration of hardware: The Internet-based attempts of traditional home appliances began with network TV, and then the Internet-based home hardware expanded to various aspects of home life such as entertainment, security, switch control, lighting, kitchen and bathroom appliances, medical health, and indoor environment.
The establishment of the smart home platform: With the increase in the number of Internet-based home products, the demand for convenient and unified control panels has increased. In this context, in 2014 Apple launched HomeKit, Samsung launched SmartThings Hub, a smart home platform SmartThings Hub, JD.com built a JD+ platform, Haier launched a U+ cloud platform, etc., as the entrance to control various intelligent products, with the corresponding mobile APP, smart home industry So far, an interconnected control system of "hardware-platform-APP" has been initially established, and the concept has been implemented faster.
Basic intelligence is easier to achieve. Thanks to the popularization of smart widgets such as smart sockets and smart switches, home appliances such as traditional air conditioners, refrigerators, and desk lamps that are not equipped with smart functions can also be networked and controllable. Potential users can use "control media (smart speakers or mobile phone APP) + smart "Socket" can quickly establish a basic smart home environment, which is conducive to the rapid popularization of smart home concepts and the establishment of smart living habits.
1.2 The chaos of the crowd and the chaos on the platform bring new problems, and the third-party intelligent services provide new ideas
Currently, platforms including Apple HomeKit, Google Nest, Samsung Smart Things, and Amazon are currently enclosing in foreign markets. Domestic smart home platforms such as Huawei, Alibaba, and JD.com have expanded their platform coverage through cooperation with home appliance manufacturers. Xiaomi is relatively closed, focusing on shaping its own ecosystem. On the whole, each platform is still relatively independent at present, and consumers are faced with a "stand-in" choice when buying smart home products, which is not conducive to the popularization and development of the industry.
At present, we have been able to see the efforts made by major manufacturers in interconnection. Take Midea M-Smart as an example:
Through the opening of the platform, Midea has obtained high-quality partners in various industries to realize smart life together. Compared with other platforms, the biggest feature of Midea's M-Smart IoT platform is its openness. Through registration and application, other developers can obtain the SDK package and related technical documents of the Midea M-Smart platform after signing an agreement with Midea. Developers can obtain M-Smart certification after testing their products. Midea has established cooperative relationships with Huawei, Tencent, Xiaomi, iFLYTEK, Alibaba Cloud, JD.com, and many other companies to create a smart lifestyle by building an ecosystem.
Has the interconnection problem been solved? Although through cooperation, some home appliance models have appeared on the search pages of multiple platforms at the same time, a single product cannot support multiple Internet home furnishing platforms at the same time. Interoperability has only taken a small step, and interoperability at the platform level still needs to be resolved urgently.
Haier Air Conditioning and GE Appliances launched the world's first smart air conditioner that supports Apple HomeKit technology and can be interconnected with Google Assistant and Amazon Alexa, which means that smart air conditioners can achieve cross-platform operation.
Third-party intelligent solution providers provide new ideas for solving interconnection problems. For example, Tuya Smart, established in 2014, can provide customers with packaged standardized solutions, including smart modules, IoT cloud services, and APP development. Protocol conversion can be provided through the Tuya Cloud Proxy module, and it fully supports mainstream smart terminal control such as Amazon Echo, Google Home, and Tmall Genie. It can also quickly access platforms such as Ali Xiaozhi, JD Weilian, and WeChat hardware.
2 Trivial and rigid human-computer interaction?Voice control has become a reality, and interactive methods continue to expand
2.1 Voice assistant drives the change of control mode from touch to voice control
The landing of voice assistants on smart speakers has led to the transformation of smart home interaction from mobile phone touch to voice control.
Natural voice interaction properties promote the popularization of smart speakers. Compared with other mainstream smart home devices (such as routers, smart refrigerators, smart TVs, security cameras, thermostats, etc.), smart speakers are more interactive, have fewer restrictions on access applications, and can adapt to a wider range of scenarios . In addition, smart speakers can be arranged at multiple points, and the main speakers and mini speakers can work together to achieve device linkage, which is convenient for spreading smart voice to the whole house.
Amazon is a pioneer in the field of smart speakers and launched its own smart speaker product Echo at the end of 2014. Through the increasingly intelligent Alexa voice assistant, the Echo speaker controls the hub, cooperates with other first-party hardware such as Fire TV, Ring, Blink, and supports the control of more than 8,000 third-party hardware through the open platform and skills, and supports more than 30,000 skills. Lay and shape its own intelligent ecology.
The application of voice assistants to various smart products greatly enhances the experience. The traditional smart home control method is mainly controlled by mobile phone APP. With the further popularization of smart speakers and voice assistants and the improvement of home ecology, the air conditioner can be controlled by simple daily statements such as "It's hot" and "It's a bit dark in the room". Lighting and other equipment even start a series of sequential control instructions to quickly switch the state of the house.
2.2 When the interactive mode is expanded
Intelligent application scenarios of various products are constantly being explored, and the interaction between humans and machines is becoming more and more abundant. On the one hand, optical control and sensor control of smart home products make silent and touchless interaction possible. On the other hand, smart homes have become passive. Respond to the order to actively cooperate with the development:
Response command: The passive response type smart home needs the trigger of specific information to be able to start. At present, the trigger signal is expanding from voice to image and sensing.
Active coordination: Active coordination refers to smart home devices that can actively adjust operating parameters or recommend extended products based on their operating status. Smart home advances from executing commands to simplifying life.
3 How to make the leap from concept to realization?E-commerce platform solves the problem of traffic monetization
3.1 Traditional home appliance manufacturers: intelligently enhance the added value of products
The intelligence of the product side has increased the added value of the product, allowing traditional home appliance manufacturers to enjoy a higher premium. 1) The initial intelligence is to add Wi-Fi to the product. For example, Midea’s current air conditioner sold by JD. Most models from 1999 yuan to 5699 yuan have this "Wi-Fi intelligent control" function. 2) The second type of intelligence is to optimize the functions of home appliances in a more detailed and intimate manner. For example, the price of a pulsator washing machine with a smart chip is 57% higher than that of an ordinary pulsator washing machine; the beautiful IH, which can recognize rice types and intelligently select the heating curve, is 2.5 times the price of an ordinary IH rice cooker. 3) More advanced intelligence gives the product attributes beyond its traditional functions, such as artificial intelligence, voice interaction, and audio-visual entertainment. The smart refrigerator jointly built by JD.com and Midea is 44% more expensive than ordinary multi-door refrigerators.
The problem of ASP improvement + platform construction of traditional power plants: traffic cannot bring considerable growth in actual sales. Although the smart home control APP of traditional home appliance manufacturers also provides the purchase entrance of other products, most of the listed products are still limited to home appliances of the same brand. As high-value durable goods, consumers tend to be mature in JD.com and Suning. It’s difficult to stimulate consumers to purchase smart home appliances with high prices recommended by APP.