Nearly half of consumers aware of Internet of Things (IoT) devices on the market are most familiar with Apple’s IoT devices (48 percent), while just 13 percent are most familiar with Google’s connected devices, according to a ThroughTek survey of 1,157 consumers.
One in four consumers noted a top preference for an IoT brand. Most prefer Apple (29 percent).One in five prefer Samsung (19 percent), 14 percent prefer Google, and 10 percent prefer Amazon.
However, the report noted that a quarter of consumers surveyed appear to lack a clear preference for any brand’s IoT device.
“Apple has built upon and improved existing products on the market with the user experience always a priority,” Daniel Collins, chief data officer of ThroughTek, told eWEEK. “Apple has created products that meet consumer demand, especially where ease of use is concerned, and because of their established name in the market, are seeing success.”
Collins added Apple also has taken the time to survey consumer preferences around their IoT products, such as Apple Watch, and carefully pair it with existing products and app services.
“Beyond that, Apple has been more popular with Millennials—with our research, we saw that Apple captures the most Millennial interest—even though it’s often more expensive than other options,” he said. “This speaks further to the market attention that Apple has commanded.”
The survey also revealed that of those consumers who would like to spend money on an IoT service, one in three would elect to spend money on IoT devices that monitor home safety.
Just 13 percent of consumers who are familiar with IoT options are most familiar with Google’s IoT devices, which include Google’s Nest Labs acquisition, DropCam, a security camera for the home.
Following home security, 25 percent of consumers would most like to purchase an IoT devices that monitors health conditions, and 21 percent are most interested in purchasing a connected device that monitors home environment factors such as temperature.
Though consumers consider cost and brand of IoT devices over security, they are highly concerned with data collection.
Just over half (53 percent) of consumers said they would be uncomfortable with IoT service providers collecting imaging data, such as personal photos and videos, and 38 percent would be uncomfortable with the collection of their usage data.
For health data, 49 percent would be uncomfortable with the collection of data relating to their health and wellness, like weight and sleep quality.
Conversely, 44 percent of Millennials would be comfortable with their personal health data being collected and 49 percent with their usage data, like consumption of food, water or electricity being collected.
Almost one in three Americans identified cost as their top consideration should they consider purchasing an IoT device (31 percent), followed by ease of use (21 percent) and security (15 percent).
“There is a huge opportunity for brands producing IoT products to educate consumers not only on how IoT products can provide real benefits to their everyday life, but also on how IoT products work,” Collins said. “This will expand the consumer market for IoT.”
