Consumers Consider Cost and Brand of IoT Device Over Security When Making Purchasing Decisions

TAIPEI, Taiwan — (BUSINESS WIRE) — August 4, 2015 — ThroughTek, leading Internet of Things (IoT) & market-leading Machine-to-Machine (M2M) solutions provider, today announced findings from its “IoT Makers’ Battle Report” that highlights consumers’ brand and device preferences across IoT. The report found nearly half of consumers aware of IoT devices on the market are most familiar with Apple’s IoT devices (48%), while surprisingly only 13 percent are most familiar with Google’s connected devices. Rounding this ranking are Samsung (22%) and Amazon (15%). Beyond familiarity, regarding purchase preference, one in four consumers noting a top preference of an IoT brand most prefer Apple (29%), whereas nearly one in five prefer Samsung (19%), 14 percent Google and 10 percent Amazon. However, one in four consumers lack a clear preference of any brand’s IoT device.

Apple IoT products have not only effectively captured the attention of Millennials who are plugged into the IoT space (47%), but have also gained significant attention of those aged 35 - 54 (48%) and 55+ (48%). Such Apple preference shows a variety of consumers could be more aware of wearable devices like Apple Watch, rather than IoT devices used in smart home applications like Amazon Echo and Google Nest.

To further delve into consumer attitudes, ThroughTek commissioned online research firm YouGov to poll the attitudes of American consumers.

“Although Apple is the most recognized name, consumers lack a clear understanding of IoT devices currently available and the benefits provided by each,” said Daniel Collins, Chief Data Officer, ThroughTek. “This leaves an opportunity for brands in the industry to focus on consumer education in order to increase visibility and help gain insight into user needs.”

Additional key findings from the report include:

• Cost is the number one concern for consumers when purchasing an IoT device— Almost one in three Americans identify cost as what their top consideration would be when purchasing an IoT device (31%), followed by ease of use (21%) and security (15%). As cost is a major concern, coupled with lack of clear brand preference, this provides strong consumer-reaching opportunities for lesser-known IoT players to make an impact among tech giants like Apple and Amazon.
• Consumers are extremely sensitive about data collection, but are more comfortable sharing their usage and health data—Though consumers consider cost and brand of IoT devices over security, they are highly concerned with data collection. 53 percent of consumers would be uncomfortable with IoT service providers collecting imaging data (e.g. personal photos and videos) and 38 percent 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 (e.g. 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 (e.g. consumption of food, water, electric, etc.) being collected. This contrasts with 35 percent of Millennials who would be uncomfortable with health data collection and 21 percent who don’t know. A further 28 percent are uncomfortable with usage data collection. Nevertheless, the collection of health and usage data presents value added to the IoT industry beyond the smart home, including retail, health care and industrial services industries.
• Home security is the most popular purchase motivation – Of those who would like to spend money on an IoT service, one in three consumers would elect to spend money on IoT devices that monitor home safety; however, only 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.

“Consumers are clearly concerned with data collection from IoT devices,” said Collins. “To address this, companies in the IoT have a responsibility to ensure consumers are comfortable with the data collected by their devices and that an appropriate level of anonymity is maintained.”

Research Methodology

ThroughTek commissioned YouGov PLC—a third party, professional research and consulting organization—to poll the views of a representative sample of 1,157 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between July 10-13, 2015. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all US adults (aged 18+). The survey was carried out online.

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