Consumers More Frustrated by Smart Home Apps than Devices, Revealing Perceived Gap in Quality of Hardware and Software Offerings

New report by Argus Insights suggests disappointing apps break user experience, may cause decline in consumer delight over time

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Los Gatos, CA, January 26, 2016 – The Smart Home ecosystem comprises both hardware devices and software apps and together they are supposed to make an efficient system for consumers. A new report from Argus Insights shows that consumers are overall more frustrated with the applications that dictate, schedule and manage each device than with the actual devices themselves. Past Argus Insights reports looked at the hardware component and the challenges and irritations customers were experiencing with installation and connectivity, but this new analysis introduces a new data set to uncover the fact that consumers are experiencing even more issues with the apps that run these devices.

According to data compiled from nearly 50,000 Smart Home device and app reviews from August 2015 to the present, the incumbent home security companies like ADT, Comcast and AT&T are failing to delight consumers with their apps while the more innovative and newer Smart Home-focused companies like Vivint and Honeywell appear to be cultivating a more synchronized hardware and software ecosystem and are doing better among consumers.

“Companies that have aligned their entire ecosystem to delight consumers will outperform the rest of the market in the long term. Look how Honeywell came from behind to beat Nest with an overall better experience!” said Dr. Feland.

Argus Insights Smart Home Ecosystem report is available here: https://argusinsights.com/smarthomeapps2016/

Argus Insights found while software is very important in the consumer perception of the Smart Home experience, it is sometime very different from consumer perception of corresponding hardware. For example, Philips devices receive a higher delight score than Honeywell devices, but Honeywell’s apps are the most delightful according to the research, while Philips apps are the least liked. This scenario results in Honeywell providing a better overall experience across the entire Smart Home ecosystem, while Philips consumers report a foreboding gap in the experience between hardware and software.

“Companies like Philips must mind the gap between the devices and the experience of using the app,” said John Feland, CEO and founder, Argus Insights. “Once consumers have installed and connected their device, the app becomes the primary touch point for their new Smart Home. Unfortunately, our analysis shows a looming lag in app experience which are a blemish on an otherwise improving end-to-end user experience.”

Key takeaways from the report:

• Delight for Smart Home apps as a category is far below delight for the devices, but is very slowly starting to improve.
• Philips represents a market trend of devices that are far more delightful than their apps, creating a dangerous gap in the overall customer experience.
• App functionality is a major consumer pain point, with frequent complaints of slow video streaming , long load times and the video blacking out.

Excerpts from the Argus Insights “Examining the Smart Home Ecosystem”

For more information about the Argus Insights “Examining the Smart Home Ecosystem” report, visit: https://argusinsights.com/smarthomeapps2016/

About Argus Insights & Methodology

Argus Insights is founded on the fact that mindshare anticipates demand. Through curated analysis of global consumer reviews and social media conversations, the firm provides comprehensive visibility at market, product, and attribute levels to determine what is delighting and disappointing the market. Through insights derived from the firm’s proprietary customer insights platform, clients take targeted actions to improve market fit and revenue performance so they can surpass their competition.

Argus Insights is Silicon Valley’s first big data driven Market Coach. Recognizing that companies are constantly striving to achieve and sustain market fit in the face of competitive threats and shifting customer preferences, Argus Insights continuously monitors and analyzes millions of consumer touchpoints with their patent pending technology to measure the degree to which products satisfy market demand.

Argus Insights provides well-established and developing companies from Fortune 100 to small startups with information on market fit. We publish monthly market fit reports for a variety of B2B and B2C markets immediately at the month’s close while other firms force clients to wait a month or more for results. Take action today, visit https://argusinsights.com/ .

Media Contact:
Erica Zeidenberg

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Hot Tomato Marketing
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