Residents of U.S. households significantly underestimate the number of IoT-based devices in their homes, according to research conducted by internet service provider Ting Internet.
The survey asked people how many IoT devices they had and subsequently presented them with a detailed list of IoT devices. Their guesses underestimated the realities.
Key results of the survey, which assumes that Internet-connected devices and IoT devices are synonymous:
- On average, respondents believed they had 8 IoT connected devices in their household. When presented with a detailed list of options, however, it turned out that they had 13 devices.
- Adults between 35 and 54 years of age tend to own more IoT devices. They also underreport the number of devices they think they have more than adults in other age groups. There is a 67% increase in perceived vs. actual in this age group.
- U.S. families see a disconnect between the average perceived number of devices in their home vs. average actual count. The disparity is 82% in the northeast, 64% in the midwest, 74% in the west and 62% in the south.
- Homes are hooked to a network of smart devices that have been overlooked. The most commonly owned devices with IoT functionality are smartphones (96%), followed by computer/laptop (86%), tablet (70%), smart TV (69%), gaming consoles (62%), streaming devices (49%), smart speaker (42%) and smartwatch (31%).
Ting surveyed 1,500 U.S. families.
The COVID-19 pandemic created a spike in connected devices. In 2021, Deloitte found that the average number of entertainment and smart devices per home was 25. That number slipped to a lower but still robust 22 devices in 2022, according to the company’s “2022 Connectivity and Mobile Trends” report.
Pricing also is important, of course. In May 2021, Parks Associates found that 42% of U.S. broadband households do not own or plan to buy a smart home device – but 17% said they would if prices were lower. That percentage would add about 7.9 million households to the smart home segment, the firm said.
