The smart home market in Europe accounted for almost 23 million units in the first quarter of 2021 — growth of 25.6% over the same quarter last year, according to International Data Corporation (IDC).

"The growth in smart home products was visible in all categories," said Antonio Arantes, senior research analyst for smart home devices in Western Europe. "After an almost flat 2020, video entertainment products — smart TVs and digital media adapters — were one of the main contributors to the growth."

"The Central and Eastern Europe [CEE] market recorded double-digit growth of 25.6% and replicated the same behavior of the whole region, where smart TVs played a major role," said Jan Prenosil, senior research analyst for smart home devices in CEE. "Small appliances posted the most growth in the first quarter of 2021, as smart vacuum cleaners expand and there are more affordable devices on the market. The functionalities and performance of these devices continue to improve, so we expect great interest from customers in the future."

The smart home market is expected to continue its growth trajectory, reaching more than 207 million units in Europe in 2025 — a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 13.961% in 2020–2025.

Category Highlights

Video entertainment reached more than 10.7 million units shipped to Europe, with a market share of 46.6% and growth of 24.9%. Smart TVs accounted for 79.4% of the category, while digital media adapters had a 20.4% category share.

Smart speakers grew 19.1%, which is equal to the biggest growth in this category between 2020 and 2021. Amazon is still the number 1, followed by Google.

Home monitoring/security, lighting, and thermostats accounted for 6.1 million units and 26.7% growth year over year in the three categories combined.

Europe Top 5 Smart Home Vendor Shipments, Market Share, and YoY Growth, 1Q21
(Shipments in Thousands)