Gone are the days when you had to do your daily household chores by yourself. Giant tech companies are now jostling to produce super-smart home appliances and provide optimal solutions for the time-consuming household activities that have been seen for long as an unavoidable burden.

The global home automation industry is expected to value around USD 25 bn by 2021, jumping at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.9% from USD 4.41 bn in 2013, MarketWatch recently reported, citing a research conducted and published by Market Research Engine.

Home automation and smart appliances industries are currently witnessing a robust and rapid growth all across the globe, with new tech solutions reshaping the world’s future and revolutionizing the old traditional concepts of living. Invest-Gate highlights the latest smart home solutions and technologies, while reviewing the potentiality of the Egyptian market in terms of production, product availability, and consumptive demand.

Deep Dive Into Home Automation

It is not magic or sci-fi, now you can turn your dwelling smart at a relatively low cost, having a sophisticated system of connected devices taking your orders and communicating with you in a very simplified way.

Amr Mamdouh, co-owner of Cairo-based Green for Construction and Design Company (GCC), defines home automation as easy control of all the devices and systems of a specific house for multiple purposes, including the establishment of an efficient energy-saving mechanism, interactive lighting, and audio systems, along with an adequate security code.

Additionally, Waleed Mohamed, CEO of Mastery IT – an Egyptian home automation and software solutions company, tells Invest-Gate that these smart systems are affordable and user-friendly, pointing out that they can be used to manage any residential unit’s lighting and temperature system, energy consumption, security, in addition to the house’s doors, windows curtains, and home appliances – all wirelessly and even remotely.

Generally speaking, “The home automation industry has witnessed a significant breakthrough in the past five years,” Mamdouh notes. The growing number of vendors and suppliers sparks a benign competition in the market, making home automation solutions available for consumers in more efficient and affordable ways, he adds

Cutting-Edge Appliances

In line with this marked progress in home automation, global tech giants started to adopt new production lines that include super-smart home appliances, ranging from small digital gadgets to cutting edge durable products.

Samsung, which has established itself as one of the leading companies in this sector, hit the global market with its outstanding smart products such as SmartThings Hub, sensors, and trackers, which are compatible with over 100 devices and allow absolute control over the house. The South Korean multinational company is also famous for its revolutionary home appliances like Samsung “Family Hub” refrigerator and Samsung Chef Collection of commercial-grade refrigerators, ranges, cooktops, ovens, hoods, and dishwashers.

LG Electronics has similarly been one of the world’s most remarkable smart devices manufacturers with its exceptional “Hom-Bot” robot vacuum cleaner, managing to receive a high demand worldwide. The slim and seamless cleaner uses laser mapping for zone cleaning to provide a spotless dusting performance. The tech giant also achieves high sales out of its smart “ThinQ” home products and its one-of-a-kind “InstaView Door-In-Door” fridge.

US tech magazine CNet has recently published a list of best smart home devices in 2019, including “Google Home Hub,” an extremely smart voice assistant that is able to perform a variety of complicated actions and tasks. Another device is “Kohler Verdera Voice Lighted Mirror,” which adds more voice-based and touchless interactions into the bathroom and kitchen walls, in addition to “Maximus Camera Floodlight” that ensures high levels of security.

Where Does Egypt Stand?

The home automation market is now flourishing in Egypt and the number of people requesting smart home services is growing quite significantly, according to Ahmed Ebeed, project manager at Mastery IT.

Meanwhile, the smart home industry does not progress at the same pace as home automation in Egypt, with products such as Google Home Hub, LG’s Hom-Bot cleaner, and Amazon’s smart speakers remaining unavailable in the local market; some of them do not even ship to Egypt.

GCC’s Mamdouh attributes this lack of smart products to the absence of competition, arguing that few companies are dominating the smart home appliances market and controlling the prices.

Coinciding with the current tremendous digital transformation, tech industries such as home automation and smart appliances have managed to leap and mark the beginning of a brand new era, with an entirely different understanding of homebuilding. Developed countries have taken massive steps in these industries, outpacing their developing counterparts. Egypt, however, has just started to show great potential for growth, with positive future prospects looming.