New in OS X: Get MacRumors Push Notifications on your Mac

Resubscribe Now Close

Amazon Has Reportedly Gained Edge Over Apple in Deals With Smart Home Builders

Monday April 16, 2018 9:17 am PDT by Joe Rossignol
Amazon appears to have gained an edge over Apple in deals with smart home builders, according to The Information.


The paywalled report claims that an increasing number of home builders have agreed to partnerships with Amazon to build homes with preinstalled Alexa-enabled accessories, rather than HomeKit-based products from Apple.

Last year, for example, Amazon reportedly struck a large-scale deal with Lennar, one of the biggest home builders in the United States. Lennar first had a partnership with Apple in 2016, but the company is "prioritizing Amazon now."
As part of its deal, Lennar gets access to Amazon's growing army of so-called Amazon experts, the company's in-home service team, to go around to every new homeowner and make sure their smart home is hooked up. Every new Lennar home comes with Echo Dot speakers and Echo Show displays to connect with Alexa, as well as a suite of connected doorbells, locks, light switches and thermostat.
A few other builders, such as Arizona-based Meritage Homes and Shea Homes, also said they considered Apple but opted for Amazon.
"Apple is closed source about what will talk to their system, so we shied away from it," said CR Herro, a vice president with Arizona-based Meritage Homes. "I don't want to restrict what I think the future could be because I have no idea what it will be."
The report claims that Apple requiring accessory makers to install an authentication chip for HomeKit compatibility has "significantly limited the number of new devices getting to market," but that is no longer the case, as iOS 11.3 introduced software-based authentication for accessories to interface with HomeKit.

Meanwhile, some builders believe there is a downside in allowing Amazon to embed a network of Alexa-powered devices that can collect data into homes, ranging from privacy concerns to competitive reasons.
Startup home builder Kasita, for instance, thinks these traditional players are giving up a huge amount of business by linking up with Amazon. Kasita uses Alexa devices for performing voice control in its "micro homes," but tries to maintain its relationship with the consumer by providing its own app and wants to offer its own services to consumers in the future.

"Amazon owns you when you buy anything online," said Jeff Wilson, founder and chairman of Kasita. "Do you really want them owning home experiences?"
While new homes are estimated to account for only about 10 percent of residential home sales in the United States, Apple believes the best way to introduce homeowners to HomeKit is from the get-go.

"We want to bring home automation to the mainstream," said Greg Joswiak, a marketing executive at Apple, in an interview with Bloomberg. "The best place to start is at the beginning, when a house is just being created."

Tags: HomeKit, theinformation.com
[ 115 comments ]


Top Rated Comments

(View all)

Avatar
smulji
27 weeks ago

I think Apple is a much more reliable home automation platform, as soon as Apple makes Siri better Amazon will be in big trouble.


Questions is when? Apple has had 7 years to make Siri better.
Rating: 26 Votes
Avatar
ambientdaw
27 weeks ago
I laugh at this whole market. The minor conveniences people gain for the massive things they surrender; privacy and security. The mind boggles at how anyone would go for this tech.
Rating: 22 Votes
Avatar
Cmbqwerty79
27 weeks ago
When smart homes start getting hacked homeowners will want to know which company provides a more secure system. Then we will see who wins out in the end.
Rating: 18 Votes
Avatar
Spock
27 weeks ago
I only buy Alexa compatible home automation hardware because the Echo can be had for $29 and works great. I have three in my house and they control lights in those rooms, can tell me the weather and play things off my phone via Bluetooth. HomeKit and HomePod are just to expensive for me right now. I’m not saying HomePod is a bad product but Apple is far to late to the game at this point.
Rating: 18 Votes
Avatar
HJM.NL
27 weeks ago
A walled garden is only nice if the plants in that garden are fresh and healthy. If you have little choice and pay double the price for the same product and functionality, you feel trapped in that garden.
Rating: 11 Votes
Avatar
anek007
27 weeks ago

I think Apple is a much more reliable home automation platform, as soon as Apple makes Siri better Amazon will be in big trouble.


How’s it more reliable when it doesn’t support half of what Alexa or google assistance can do? Connection and device support isn’t even close.

Siri has been out for 7 years and Alexa been out for 4 years. Siri works on billions of devices from iPhones, iPads, and MacBooks yet only new news I seen is new jokes?! Haha. Alexa on my $30 echo dot is smarter in every way than Siri. Siri still can’t identify two different person while Alexa can tell the difference between my wife and I when we talk to Alexa.
Rating: 9 Votes
Avatar
PastaPrimav
27 weeks ago
This is pretty apparent, and its a shame. Way more Alexa adoption than HomeKit from what I've seen.
Rating: 9 Votes
Avatar
rotax
27 weeks ago
Not in my house! Those stupid enough to trust Amazon and Alexa are the same people who trust Facebook and Google with their data.
Rating: 8 Votes
Avatar
Cesar Battistini
27 weeks ago
I think Apple is a much more reliable home automation platform, as soon as Apple makes Siri better Amazon will be in big trouble.
Rating: 5 Votes
Avatar
SeminalSage
27 weeks ago

I laugh at this whole market. The minor conveniences people gain for the massive things they surrender; privacy and security. The mind boggles at how anyone would go for this tech.


I have to disagree. This is completely anecdotal, but I can give a long list of reasons why these are not just minor conveniences. Just a few from my use case:

1. Kids are home alone after school for about 30-60 minutes. We can monitor the locks and security camera.
2. When going for a bike ride or run, we do not have to take our garage door opener or a house key.
3. When on vacation, we can open the door for friends who are keeping an eye on pets.
4. Controlling the thermostat from anywhere is a benefit as I live in an area where the temp changes can be drastic pretty quick.

These are just a few. Yes, there are simple low tech solutions for most of uses, but they involve lost keys, multiple door openers, higher energy bills, complicated camera setups, etc. My point is that I don't think all cases are just minor conveniences.

And as I use HomeKit stuff only, I don't feel privacy is much of an issue (until Apple proves me wrong).
Rating: 5 Votes

[ Read All Comments ]