Changing consumer expectations, operational efficiencies, and a travel market in flux are increasingly unifying smart home players and commercial building technology suppliers as they look to support new experiences and working environments. According to a new report from ABI Research, the smart home and connected equipment market across the smart hospitality and coworking space will see connected shipments rise from 6.8 million devices shipped this year to 19.7 million in 2027, a CAGR of 23.5%.

Examining three market segments – Smart Hotel Rooms, Short-Term Rentals (STR), and Coworking Spaces – embedded connectivity, combined with networked management, enables new opportunities for service and hospitality providers in each segment. “Service flexibility, cost savings, and meeting changing customer expectations is driving investment in connected technology,” says Jonathan Collins, Smart Home and Buildings Research Director at ABI Research. “Some dedicated offerings address just one segment of the market. But now, offerings are increasingly being adopted that address the broader smart homes and smart building markets.

The opportunity is driving investment from established commercial building players including Honeywell, Schneider Electric and Siemens in the smart hotel room space as well as smaller, dedicated players such as Minut in the STR market. Meanwhile, broader smart home players, from Amazon and Google to Alarm.com and Assay Abloy, have offerings supporting deployment across the three markets.

Smart-enabled capabilities such as smart locks for access control, smart thermostats for energy management, sensors to support maintenance demands, and even voice control all have significant potential. “But smart home device and service providers will have to understand and meet the shared and distinct opportunities across these market segments,” Collins points out.

While the smart hotel rooms market will see significant adoption and growth over the forecast period, the short-term rental opportunity offers the most significant potential, especially to existing smart home players. By 2027, STR will command more than 11 million smart device shipments, up 22% on 2022 levels. While the coworking space outpaces the other sectors, with shipment growth at 33.8% CAGR over the forecast period, it is an opportunity of a significant but different scale. “As a market built upon smart device support from the outset, penetration is already high,” Collins explains.

“Growth will flow from total market growth without the benefits of the retrofit potential offered in the Smart Hotel Room space and the greater need and simplicity of STR deployment,” Collins explains.