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The Smart Internet Blue Book China Smart Internet Development Report (2026), compiled by the People's Network Research Institute, was officially released in Beijing. Among its featured papers, China Smart Home Development Status and Trends, co-authored by Pan Hongjun, Deputy Director of the User and Market Department at China Mobile Research Institute; Zhang Zheng, Technical Manager; Zhao Ying, Principal Researcher; and researchers Liu Weixu and Zhu Chenwei, points out that in 2025, the scale of China's smart home industry surpassed the RMB 1 trillion mark, forming an industry landscape characterized by the participation of diverse market players and cross-sector integration. The paper further indicates that future industry development will exhibit trends including the parallel operation of domestic and international communication protocols, the evolution of terminals toward embodied intelligence, a focused emphasis on application scenarios catering to "the young and the elderly," and a forward shift in business models.

The paper observes that China's smart home market is currently entering a critical stage where scale expansion and structural upgrading proceed in tandem. On the one hand, the overall industry scale has exceeded RMB 1 trillion, yet the penetration rates for certain product categories remain significantly lower than those in Europe and the United States, suggesting substantial growth potential and structural opportunities. On the other hand, industry participants are becoming increasingly diverse, with technology companies, telecom operators, and other new players actively entering the smart home space alongside traditional manufacturers, each leveraging differentiated strategies to drive continued industry growth. Notably, interconnectivity policies at both the national and local levels are being implemented at an accelerated pace, having evolved from standard-setting to proactive regulatory measures that are poised to fundamentally break down ecosystem barriers among different brands and platforms, thereby laying a solid foundation for the large-scale adoption and upgrading of smart home solutions.

The paper projects that the smart home industry will be underpinned by the parallel operation of both international and domestic communication protocols, trending toward deeper interconnectivity. At the same time, AI large models will deeply empower end devices, and embodied intelligence is expected to achieve critical breakthroughs in home environments. At the application level, the industry will focus on "the young and the elderly," delivering more proactive and intelligent services in areas such as safety protection and health monitoring for seniors, as well as growth companionship for children. In terms of business models, smart home enterprises will gradually transition from single-product sales toward whole-home scenario-based integrated solutions, further promoting the high-quality development of the smart home industry.

The paper also points out that, amid rapid growth, China's smart home industry continues to face critical challenges, including insufficient industrial coordination, weak data security protections, and superficial intelligent experiences. More specifically, interconnectivity remains constrained by both protocol fragmentation and the relative closure of various ecosystem silos; data collection and usage practices are not yet fully standardized, while the overall security protection framework remains relatively weak; and the empowerment of end devices through large models is still insufficient, with a notable gap in proactive service capabilities. Looking ahead, the paper recommends that the industry adopt standards, security, and application innovation as three key drivers to systematically advance high-quality development in the smart home sector. Recommended approaches include: breaking down interconnectivity barriers and actively fostering a sustainable collaborative industrial ecosystem; strengthening the foundation of user trust and improving full-lifecycle data protection systems; and deepening intelligent interaction experiences through scenario-driven AI integration and innovation.