PR97611

PALO ALTO, Calif., Aug. 31, 2022 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/ --

-- Key changes 1H 2022 vs. 1H 2021: Globally, data consumption on home networks

increased by 11%; Fitness bike category usage down 23%; Average home has 17

connected devices, up 10%

Plume(

https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3634916-1&h=3673371684&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.plume.com%2F&a=Plume

)  (R) , the personalized communications services pioneer, today released its

first biannual Plume IQ Smart Home Market Report, providing groundbreaking and

comprehensive intelligence about the growth of the smart home sector, including

the changing popularity, penetration and usage of connected devices and home

networks. The report analyzes anonymized and aggregated data from a

cross-section of the 41 million homes managed by the Plume Cloud across the

U.S., Europe and Japan, comparing the periods January to June 2021 and January

to June 2022. The data reflects consumers' relentless adoption and use of smart

and IoT devices in the home with a 10% increase in device volume per home and

an 11% increase in data consumption - presenting Communication Service

Providers (CSPs) with an opportunity to innovate while increasing revenue.

Download the report. (

https://c212.net/c/link/?t=0&l=en&o=3634916-1&h=1566532474&u=https%3A%2F%2Fdiscover.plume.com%2Fplume-iq-smart-home-1h-2022-smart-home-report.html&a=Download+the+report.

)

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Key findings include:

  -- Consumers' growing appetite for IoT and smart home technologies shows no

     sign of slowing down: Globally, the average number of connected devices

     per home is currently at 17.1, up 10% from 15.5 in the first half of 2021.

     The biggest change is in Europe, where the average number of devices per

     Plume household jumped by 13%, from 15.4 to 17.4.

  -- Major growth in device volumes and types: Since the pandemic, there's been

     an uptick in smart home device sales. Smartphones remain the most popular

     device in Plume-powered homes, averaging over six per household across all

     locations, including "guest" devices that are allowed access to the

     network. Plume-powered homes in the U.S. have the highest penetration of

     connected devices to date, with an average of 20.2 per home.

  -- Data consumption is on the rise but not for fitness bikes: With up to 10%

     more devices in Plume-powered households, Plume saw an upward trend (11%)

     in data consumption across the Plume Cloud. However, the biggest decrease

     in data consumption is seen in fitness bikes—down by 23% which likely

     reflects a change in consumer behavior with people returning to the

     office, exercising outdoors or at the gym as they adjust to the post-

     pandemic world.

  -- Apple dominates device brand loyalty: According to Plume's brand index,

     which gauges the level of smart home users' loyalty, Apple dominated with

     a "presence" (i.e., 1 or more same brand devices) in more homes, and in

     homes that Plume considers to be "brand-devoted" (i.e. 5 or more same

     brand devices) or "brand-obsessed" (i.e. 10 or more same brand devices).

     In terms of percentage change across the two periods, there have been

     stronger gains in the 'devotion' and 'obsession' categories. Apple gained

     an increase of 24% more homes with 10 or more devices, and Samsung and

     Amazon followed suit with 17% and 18% respectively, illustrating the

     comparative strength of the iOS device ecosystem.

  -- The average number of blocked cyber-threats grew exponentially: Globally,

     the average number of cyber-threats blocked by Plume systems has risen

     significantly by 51% over 1H 2021. The cyber-threat category that has

     grown the most is botnets, where threats blocked grew by 84%, followed by

     malware with a 58% increase, and spyware and adware, which grew by 40%.

     Inevitably, this may be a result of the conflict in Ukraine as

     cybercriminals sadly look to exploit periods of global uncertainty.

"Plume's data reflects two interesting periods - the first half of 2021 when

consumers were gradually emerging from the pandemic restrictions that had kept

them homebound, and the first half of 2022 when people started going back into

the world. Despite the radically different circumstances, it's evident that

smart homes and IoT devices remain very much key to our connected lifestyles,"

said Todd Grantham, Chief Marketing Officer at Plume. "As service providers

look to solidify their smart home strategies in line with this trend, our

latest market update report offers exclusive intelligence to help them identify

and understand changing consumer dynamics and raise the quality of experience

and services that their customers desire."

Methodology

The Plume IQ Smart Home Market Report analyzes anonymized and aggregated data

from a cross-section of the 41 million homes managed by the Plume Cloud across

the U.S., Europe and Japan regions. The study is based on a comparison of

independent averages formed across the following two time periods: January 1,

2021, to June 30, 2021 (1H 2021) and January 1, 2022, to June 30, 2022 (1H

2022).

About Plume (R)

Plume (R) is the creator of the world's first SaaS experience platform for

Communications Service Providers (CSPs) and their subscribers, deployed in more

than 41 million active locations globally. As the only open and

hardware-independent, cloud-controlled solution, Plume enables the rapid

delivery of new services for smart homes, small businesses, and beyond at

massive scale. On the front end, Plume delivers self-optimizing adaptive WiFi,

cyber-security, access and parental controls, and more. CSPs get robust data-

and AI-driven back-end applications for unprecedented visibility, insights,

support, operations, and marketing. Plume leverages OpenSync (TM) , an

open-source framework that comes pre-integrated and supported on the leading

silicon, CPE, and platform SDKs.

Plume's investors include Insight Partners, SoftBank, Liberty Global Ventures,

Qualcomm, and Samsung.

Visit www.plume.com, www.plume.com/homepass, www.plume.com/workpass, and

www.opensync.io.

Follow Plume on LinkedIn

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inkedin.com%2Fcompany%2Fplume-wifi&a=LinkedIn ) and Twitter (

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) .

Plume and OpenSync are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Plume

Design, Inc. Other company and product names are used for informational

purposes only and may be trademarks of their respective owners.

Source – Plume

Contact: Inkhouse (Corporate Inquiries) plume@inkhouse.com, Axicom (European

Inquiries) PlumeUK@axicom.com, BGA (U.S. trade media & analyst Inquiries)

Plume@bobgoldpr.com