Metova, a provider of mobile, connected car, connected home and IoT Solutions,has announced the results of their second annual survey revealing consumer trends and the sentiment of over 1000 consumers on IoT and connected home technologies.

Notably, less than 25 per cent of people surveyed feel like they have a good understanding of what the Internet of Things (IoT) is, however, nearly 75 per cent of consumers already own at least one IoT device. The survey also reveals a growing amount of people view IoT as the “wave of the future,” and a growing concern around privacy and connected devices. In addition, 85 per cent of people would like the ability to monitor their utility usage in real-time with connected devices and would choose a utility provider over a competitor based on that ability if given a choice.

“We see notable growth and adoption of connected smart devices and increased demand for real-time monitoring of utility usage – yet surprisingly most consumers are not sure what the Internet of Things means,” said Jonathan Sasse, president and CMO at Metova. “As consumers continue to incorporate Internet of Things into their everyday lives, it becomes critical that businesses, both established and new, take note and provide their customers with the facilities, transparency, and convenience they are accustomed to through the use of IoT technologies and connected devices.”

Key IoT survey findings include:

• Year over year, a 25 per cent lift in the number of consumers understanding what “Internet of Things” is, but still less than 1 in 4 fully understand the term
• IoT device ownership is up 10 per cent year to year – with nearly 75 per cent reporting to own an IoT Device
• Privacy issues are a growing concern with nearly 90 per cent expressing a level of concern and a 5 per cent lift of people who are extremely concerned about privacy issues associated with IoT devices
• Over two out of three people view IoT as the “Wave of the Future” – a 10 per cent increase
• Nearly 75 per cent percent of people surveyed watch TV or video via the Internet an increase of 14 per cent since 2018
• The most commonly owned IoT device category (over 30 per cent) is Smart Bluetooth Trackers such as Tile or TrackR a nearly 14 per cent increase over 2018
• Smart Thermostats (63 per cent) and Smart Home Retrofit devices (70 per cent) remain as the leading goods that are most interesting to people
• Nearly 85 per cent would like to be able to monitor their electricity, gas or water usage and cost in real-time using a computer or mobile device with the number of people who “already can” do this doubling
• The amount of people who are able to monitor their utility usage in real-time via their smartphone as has more than doubled (119 per cent) with the amount who are interested in this remains high at nearly 80 per cent

Categories: Articles, Consumer Behaviour, IoT, Research