The companies controlling how consumers interact with their devices, rather than those selling the hardware, are best positioned to own the customer relationship in the connected home, according to a new State of the Connected Home report from Parks Associates.
The report said relationship ownership increasingly hinges on the platform that serves as the central point for managing devices. Tech giants — including Amazon, Google, Apple, and Samsung — captured roughly 62% of platform preference while the remaining 38% was split among broadband providers, security providers, and other players.
Those control points grow more important as households accumulate more devices. Parks Associates reported that among homes with 10 or more smart home devices, 87% owned a smart speaker or display and 28% owned a dedicated control hub, far outpacing households with just one or two devices.
While AI could reshape that competition, it has yet to win over consumers as a control layer. Asked which provider they would prefer for home control, respondents selected AI assistants least often, at 7%, behind smartphone and smart speaker providers at 34%, device makers at 15%, security providers at 14%, and broadband providers at 12%.
Concerns about data and privacy continued to impact AI adoption in smart home management, with 72% of consumers expressing worry about the privacy implications of AI. Even so, smart home device owners have embraced the technology more than the broader population, with 71% reporting they used generative AI tools, compared with 58% of internet households surveyed.
The report said trust remained the leading reason consumers selected a home security provider for home control, an advantage rooted in established relationships and reliability.
With connectivity now widely available, the report suggested competition has shifted from raw speed to the overall experience, and the providers that establish themselves as a trusted point of control may be best positioned to layer on services and retain customers as AI-driven interfaces take hold.