Why are smart homes becoming more and more popular?
When you come home from get off work, the door lock automatically recognizes your face, the lights turn on gently, the floor is cleaned by the sweeping robot, and the air conditioner is adjusted to the most comfortable temperature.
Scenes like this are moving from science fiction movies into ordinary people’s lives.
The popularity of smart homes may appear to be a sweeping technological trend, but behind it are actually three core driving forces working at the same time – technological breakthroughs make “smart” really smart, consumption upgrades make young people willing to pay for experiences, and policy dividends have truly lowered the purchase threshold.
Technical side: from “obedient tool” to “butler who understands you”
In the past, many smart products were just “WiFi + App” remote controls – it would move only when you told it, otherwise it would just wait.
Today, with breakthroughs in large models and end-side AI technology, smart home appliances are accelerating their evolution from “passive response” to “active service”.
The vision put forward by a leading home appliance company is very vivid: “The home of the future should not just be a space for living, but should be a living and thinking intelligent body.” This intelligent body is like an all-round housekeeper, actively coordinating the equipment of the whole house. For example, the refrigerator can identify the storage status of ingredients, the oven automatically recommends recipes, and the washing machine can even understand vague instructions such as “Just came back from the hospital” and match the washing program.
At present, domestic leading home appliance companies have fully bet on the AI track. Some companies plan to invest more than 60 billion yuan in the next three years to focus on the AI field, and have completed the AI layout of more than 150 categories of home appliances; there are also brands that have signed contracts with e-commerce platforms to sell 10 million units of AI series air conditioners in three years.
Market side: Young people regard “whole-house intelligence” as a new rigid need
“Is this thing novel enough and fun enough?” is becoming the key reason for young people to pay.
Relevant trend reports show that the consumption of home appliances across the entire network is becoming younger, with nearly 60% of consumers under the age of 35 accounting for nearly 60%.
What deserves more attention is the qualitative change in consumption concepts – smart homes are moving from “single product intelligence” to “whole house intelligence”.
In the past, you might just buy a smart speaker to try it out, but now more and more people are integrating the whole house lighting, curtains, security, and home appliances into a linked system during the renovation stage.
Saying “good morning” can activate a dozen devices: the lights dim, the curtains open, the air purifier starts, and the whole room wakes up with you.
Market data confirms this wave: In the first quarter of 2026, the AI home appliance market soared 59.7% year-on-year, with sales exceeding 38 million units.
Relevant agencies predict that China’s smart home shipments will exceed 300 million units in 2026, and the whole-house intelligent system market is expected to reach 280 billion yuan, with a penetration rate exceeding 35%.
Policy side: “Old for new” plus “old for smart”, double subsidies lower the threshold
In 2026, multiple departments jointly issued the “Implementation Opinions on Accelerating the Development of “Artificial Intelligence + Consumption””, which clearly coordinated the trade-in subsidies for consumer goods and fiscal interest discounts on personal consumption loans, focusing on intelligent terminal products.
In layman’s terms: when consumers replace home appliances, they can not only enjoy trade-in subsidies, but also receive targeted support for AI upgrades, and the purchase threshold is substantially lowered.
Experts estimate that after the policy is implemented, it can drive trillions of new consumption every year.
At the same time, the new national standard for smart home appliances has been officially implemented on May 1, 2026, delineating five levels from L1 to L5 for “smartness” for the first time, and clarifying nine typical application scenarios.
In the future, when buying smart products, you can “choose the menu based on the grade” to avoid being fooled by marketing rhetoric.
The industry still has pain points. The new national standard accelerates the reshuffle and eliminates “pseudo-intelligence”
However, as fashion becomes more popular, there are still many flaws.
Relevant Consumer Protection Committee surveys show that sweeping robots, smart door locks, and smart speakers are the hardest hit areas for “rollover”, and complaints focus on exaggerated functions, poor experience, and incompatibility with equipment.
I bought smart lights and smart speakers from different brands, but ended up with several apps installed on my phone, and the voice assistants ignored each other. This kind of “App storage box” experience is still far from true convenience.
In the final analysis, the fundamental reason for the popularity of smart homes is simple: it is really starting to become easy to use, inexpensive, and useful.
When the three gears of technology, consumption power, and policy mesh at the same time, the trend is irreversible.
The implementation of the new national standard will accelerate the reshuffle of the industry, clear “pseudo-intelligence” from the market, and allow products that truly solve pain points to remain.
