Parks Associates

DALLAS, TX--(Marketwired - Oct 13, 2016) - Parks Associates, the leading IoT research firm, released research today showing smart thermostat sales in Western Europe will increase from less than 700,000 units in 2016 to more than one million units in 2020. Leading brands in Western Europe include Honeywell, Nest, Tado, Bosch, Hive, Netamo, and Quby. The international research firm will discuss the new industry report, Managing Home Resources: Smart Energy and Water Products , at the 11th-annual CONNECTIONS™ Europe: Smart Home, IoT, and the Connected Consumer , 2-3 November in Amsterdam, with industry leaders including executives from British Gas Connected Homes, Home.ai, mnubo, and Ayla Networks.

"The market for smart thermostats, which has grown to 9% of U.S. broadband households in the past five years, will soon expand to smart water heater controllers," said Tom Kerber , Director, IoT Strategy, Parks Associates. "While the economics are not as favorable as those that smart thermostats have enjoyed, the potential is strong enough to cause major appliance makers in the traditionally conservative industry of water heaters to invest in smart technology. At CONNECTIONS™ Europe, we will address the potential benefits of these devices, including remote access and control, malfunction detection, and leak detection."

Aquanta Inc. recently introduced the Aquanta Water Heater Controller, which uses IoT technology from Ayla Networks, a speaker and sponsor at CONNECTIONS™ Europe, to enable cloud connectivity and remote control of nearly any existing water heater by use of smartphone or another Internet-connected device. Parks Associates analysts note the retrofit capability for this solution helps to bypass the long replacement cycle for hot water heaters, which is a significant barrier. The use cases for smart water heaters include savings in both water and energy costs for the household, in addition to leak detection, which will help drive demand for these solutions among consumers, contractors, and insurers.

"Aquanta has taken an innovative approach to the IoT market by providing a retrofit product that allows people to bring an appliance they already own into the 21st century," said David Friedman, CEO and co-founder of Ayla Networks. "Once a product becomes part of the IoT, the data generated by the connected product can start providing important insights of benefit to the manufacturers and ancillary service providers -- and eventually to consumers. Thanks to our strategic partnership between Ayla and mnubo, you'll be hearing more about IoT-specific data analytics tools for capabilities including real-time operations monitoring and predictive maintenance."

Ayla Networks joins Parks Associates at CONNECTIONS™ Europe for the session "IoT Infrastructure: The Impact of Data Analytics ," at 16:45 on Thursday, 3 November. Platform vendors will discuss the difficulties in creating predictive solutions that can both secure consumer data and provide in-depth insights into behavior and preferences. Speakers include:

• Seb Chakraborty, CTO, British Gas Connected Homes
• Jesper Jensen, CEO and Co-founder, Home.ai
• Aditya Pendyala, Co-founder & Head of Growth, mnubo
• Wendy Toth, Vice President of Marketing, Ayla Networks
• Tom Kerber, Director, IoT Strategy, Parks Associates

CONNECTIONS™ Europe features multiple sessions highlighting advancements in IoT solutions that are creating more consumer engagement and business opportunities for smart home, cloud services, and connected entertainment solutions. Conference sponsors include ASSA ABLOY, Ayla Networks, Bluetooth SIG, Essence, EVRYTHNG, Home8, Icontrol Networks, mnubo, ROC-Connect, SoftAtHome, Z-Wave, and ZigBee Alliance.

Registration for CONNECTIONS™ Europe is available at http://www.connectionseurope.com . For more information about Parks Associate research, contact sales@parksassociates.com , 972-490-1113. To schedule a meeting with an analyst or to request specific research data, contact Holly Sprague at hsprague@gmail.com , 720.987.6614.

About CONNECTIONS™ Europe
Produced by Parks Associates, the 11^th -annual CONNECTIONS™ Europe is a two-day executive conference focused on the impact of IoT on the consumer. The event explores innovative business strategies, new crossover industry partnerships, and advancements in IoT (Internet of Things) solutions that are creating more consumer engagement and business opportunities for smart home, cloud services, and connected entertainment solutions. Parks Associates industry analysts moderate all sessions, with discussion, insights, and networking with leading executives representing all IoT ecosystems. CONNECTIONS™ Europe will take place 2-3 November 2016 in Amsterdam at the NH Grand Hotel Krasnapolsky. http://www.connectionseurope.com

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