China makers flock to smart home despite murky IoT standards

China manufacturers have been preparing for IoT for a while and are eagerly capitalizing on its potential in many ways. Given the expectations that the IoT market in China will grow rapidly to $41 billion by 2020, companies are recognizing this and further advancing into the smart home industry.

Xiaomi has been betting on IoT by producing an assortment of “connected” devices like scales, air purifiers and security cameras that can be controlled using its smartphones. It has also been making acquisitions to grow in other product areas.

Huawei has also gotten into the IoT market by developing its own open source platform that includes what was called the Lite OS. It also wants to take advantage of the growth in smart cities, with a smart transportation system connecting buses and trains as one area of focus.

There remains, however, a big challenge in the IoT market of competing and disparate standards. EE Times calls it an “alphabet soup of industry organizations,” as many use acronyms like Bluetooth SIG and ANT+ Alliance. The Chinese government has been pushing the ISO/IEC 30141 reference architecture, which manufacturers may pick up to develop for the home market, but it’s unclear what advantages that would hold abroad.

In November, the Open Interconnect Consortium announced it is acquiring assets from the Universal Plug and Play Forum, which has primarily focused on connecting PCs and peripherals through Wi-Fi. The UPnP technology is already deployed in billions of devices, OIC Executive Director Michael Richmond told EE Times. China’s Rockchip has also been creating chips for IoT devices, even teaming up with Intel to accomplish this. Intel has been promoting its SoFIA chips and Rockchip recently launched its RK6321 smartwatch SoC.

Not all is lost for those looking to get into the IoT market early, though. A number of hubs and cameras on Global Sources have implemented UPnP technology. Another popular standard is ZigBee, a Texas Instruments mesh network technology that is commonly used for smart homes. Many China manufacturers are already using this technology in sockets, light bulbs, hubs and a number of other smart home devices. While IoT standards still have a long way to go, ZigBee is one of the leading options for China suppliers.