Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
Work Hours
Monday to Friday: 7AM - 7PM
Weekend: 10AM - 5PM
Why Read This Article?
At Apple WWDC 2022 and Google I/O 2022, both tech giants emphasized Matter, highlighting how their ecosystems and smart speakers will support more smart home brands. This signals the arrival of the Matter era. We previously introduced what Matter is—now, let’s explore why Matter is set to dominate the smart home industry in the near future.
Why is Matter the Future of Smart Homes?
Unlike smartphones, where a single device is enough for a complete experience, a truly intelligent home requires multiple interconnected devices. Simply having a smart hub (gateway) or a smart speaker isn’t enough—you need every home device to be smart, along with a universal communication protocol to coordinate them.
This concept is similar to how a brain functions—it needs both limbs (smart devices) and neurons (communication protocols) to transmit commands smoothly. Matter serves as the “nervous system” of the smart home industry, ensuring seamless integration and interoperability.
What is Matter?
Matter is an open-source smart home standard developed by Amazon, Apple, Google, and the Connectivity Standards Alliance (formerly Zigbee Alliance). Its goal is to create a royalty-free protocol that reduces development costs and enhances device compatibility. – Wikipedia
Simply put, Matter’s primary mission is to build a universal, cross-compatible smart home ecosystem.
Why Do We Need a Universal Smart Home Standard?
Previously, the two dominant smart home communication protocols, Zigbee and Z-Wave, were semi-closed ecosystems—only allowing their own devices to connect directly while requiring an API gateway to communicate with external platforms. This created fragmented “information islands”, limiting cross-device compatibility.
For users who wanted to integrate both Zigbee and Z-Wave devices, they had to rely on third-party system integrators (like FLH) to bridge the gap. However, achieving a fully integrated smart home requires controlling numerous devices—from smart locks, curtains, heating systems, TVs, audio setups, and air exchangers—far beyond what a single ecosystem like Zigbee or Z-Wave could handle.
With the rise of IPv6-connected devices, the demand for a truly universal smart home protocol has only grown stronger.
The Future of Whole-Home Smart Integration
The most promising solutions for whole-home automation currently include:
✅ Apple HomeKit
✅ Matter Alliance (a relatively new but rapidly growing standard)
With Apple, Google, Amazon and Samsung joining the Matter Alliance, it is becoming evident that the smart home market will soon be dominated by Matter.
Matter as an Architectural Innovation
Why Are Leading Smart Home Brands Supporting Matter?
The answer lies in a business concept called Architectural Innovation, as described in the Harvard Business Review.
Apple’s iPhone & App Store disrupted the mobile phone industry by restructuring the roles of key industry players. At the time, Nokia was the dominant force in mobile phones, but its fragmented OS ecosystem made app development difficult. Apple’s solution? The App Store—a centralized marketplace that simplified software distribution.
Later, Google followed suit with Android & Google Play, and together, they surpassed Nokia, fundamentally reshaping the smartphone market.
Now, the same playbook is being used in the smart home industry.
How Matter is Disrupting the Smart Home Market
Matter is not a new technology—it is built on existing protocols (Thread, IPv6, Zigbee) but redesigns the smart home ecosystem into a developer-friendly, open-standard environment.
By offering affordable smart speakers at near-cost prices, tech giants like Amazon, Google, and Apple have already placed lightweight smart home hubs in millions of homes, creating an ecosystem that divides the market into three key players:
1️⃣ Smart Speaker Platforms – Act as the control center, linking devices, mobile apps, and home users.
2️⃣ Device Manufacturers – Produce Matter-compatible smart home products (lights, locks, thermostats, etc.).
3️⃣ Software Developers – Build smart home applications to meet user needs and enhance automation.
This is the same strategy that Apple & Android used to dethrone Nokia.
By making Matter the universal smart home platform, tech giants are attracting more developers to create innovative smart home apps and services. As Matter adoption grows, a network effect (Matthew Effect) will take place—drawing in more developers and users while eliminating outdated, fragmented ecosystems.