According to latest study by Linksys on consumer Wi-Fi usage trends that there is rapid adoption of IoT in the Middle East with a growing number of people investing in smart devices for their home and the possibilities are endless, from smart lighting and thermostats to smart fridges to machine learning devices. Linksys’ study shows there is growing use of voice assistants and TV signals that are primarily internet based.
“The number of people using smart devices in the home is increasing rapidly, which means there is also a growing need to upgrade to bigger, faster home Wi-Fi systems,” says Amanulla Khan, Managing Director Linksys Middle East, Turkey and Africa. “People may not realize that even if they only stream Netflix on a smart TV, it affects the overall Wi-Fi experience for others in the household by using bandwith.”
Smart TVs lead the way for IoT adoption in the region and the findings from the Linksys study also reinforces the facts that 85.4% of respondents from the Middle East own at least one smart TV, out of which 27.9% respondents own multiple smart TVs. UAE ranks above Saudi Arabia in the adoption of smart TVs, with 86.6% and 84.2% respondents respectively.
The use of chatbots and virtual assistants, commonly called voice assistants, is rapidly increasing. The use of voice assistants such as Amazon Echo, Amazon Alexa, and Google Home is on the rise, with 35.7% ownership amongst respondents.
Other smart devices that have reached the 40% adoption barrier include connected security cameras and smart lighting, with 39.3% and 39.6% of Middle East respondents owning such devices respectively. While the use of smart doorbells is very popular – they are owned by almost half of the Middle East respondents (46.5%) –thermostats by Nest and Netatmo lag behind, with only 24.6% of respondents owning such devices.
Khan explains “While we are now talking smart lighting and voice assistants, in the next couple of years we’ll move to even smarter connected devices in the home driven by Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning. Solutions include Phyn, a smart water management system that protects your home from leaks by learning from your usage, and Whirlpool’s smart kitchen range, which automatically preheats the oven and cooks dishes based on recipes. These innovations will accelerate the number of IoT devices in the home and also the need for up-to-speed Wi-Fi. Whoever wants a smart home needs to be smart and futureproof his or her home network too.”
Linksys will showcase a range of smart home solutions as well as disruptive intelligent business solutions for SMBs at Hall 1, Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, UAE from 14th to 18th October 2018.
