European smart home market reached the best performance of the year in 4Q20, says IDC

LONDON, April 12, 2021 — In the fourth quarter of 2020, the smart home market in Europe grew 12.2% compared to the same period of 2019, according to research by International Data Corporation (IDC). 41.3 million units were shipped to the region between October and December.

"After a negative first half of 2020, the smart home market recovered and showed continued growth and interest among consumers," said Antonio Arantes, senior research analyst for smart home devices in Western Europe. "Smart TVs, one of the products that suffered the most between January and June of 2020, recovered the trend of 3Q20 and were one of the biggest contributors to growth."

"The Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) smart home market grew 6.4% year over year, with video entertainment being the main driver," said Jan Prenosil, senior research analyst for smart home devices in CEE. "Smart speakers recorded solid growth, mainly in Russia, where the popularity of local manufacturers is growing steadily. We saw good results in categories related to other home products such as home monitoring and security, thermostats, and lighting. The structure of household spending has changed during the pandemic and consumers focused more on improving their homes. This led to increased interest in smart devices as part of these enhancements."

In 2025, the smart home market is expected to reach almost 210 million units in Europe and grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 14.94% in 2020–2025.

"The market is expected to return to double-digit growth in 2021," said Arantes. "The installed base of smart home products will increase in the coming years and there is an exponential effect in the number of products in each household."

Category Highlights

Video entertainment accounted for 48.4% of the market, reaching more than 20 million units, a growth of 11.4% compared to the previous year. Digital Media Adapter shipments rose 35.4% due to the launch of new products such as Google Chromecast with Google TV and a new Amazon Fire TV Stick.

Smart Speakers continued the good performance of the previous quarters, growing 11.9% and reaching a market share of 28.0%. Amazon and Google continue as numbers 1 and 2 in Europe.

Home Monitoring/Security, Lighting , and Thermostats accounted for more than 8 million units in the European market, which was an increase of 12.2% year over year, the biggest growth in 2020.