Vietnamese start adopting smart living

JLL has recorded five projects launched that applied smart home tech in their apartment products. Most are new developments or still under construction, to name a few that has been soft launched such as Alpha City Apartment and Centennial of Alpha King Real Estate Development JSC and D-Vela of DRH Holdings.

Stephen Wyatt, country head of JLL Vietnam comments: “As the concept of smart homes becomes more widespread, rising interest could encourage more mainstream developers to incorporate smart technology in their new build projects.”

In a conference held by TheLEADER late last year in Ho Chi Minh City, Schneider Electric Vietnam general director Young Yoon Kim said over the last ten years, Vietnamese market mostly focused on luxury villas with such technologies as wired system, smart switch, touchscreen, handheld remote.

“Now luxury villas and apartments are the two main segments in the residential market using modern technologies such as Zigbee wireless, smart switch, tablet/smartphone, voice control”, said Kim.

He forecasts that within the next two years, there would be thousands of smart homes in Ho Chi Minh City provided by such famous developers as Vinhomes, Son Kim Land and Novaland.

Accoring to JLL, the smart home trend has lately penetrated into Vietnam has been accelerated by the technological sophistication as Vietnam leads the world in the growth of smartphone trafficand the rise of millennials and their growing tech-savviness will boost user preference for technology.

“Millennials, who tend to be early adopters of new technology, are also the most likely demographic to be interested in smart apartments. Other markets, such seniors who live alone, could also find uses for smart technology to improve their lives, such as a smart stove alarm or a medication reminder and daily to-do list”, JLL stated in a release today.

JLL said while there is only a very small number of smart apartments being built at present, it is a good way for smaller or newer developers to compete. Developers in Vietnam must put more effort into making smart apartment truly smart, not just use it as a marketing buzzword.

However, Wyatt acknowledged that, “although the demand is there, there is one big obstacle to developing smart apartments: the cost.”

“Before smart home use becomes mainstream, we believe that the high-end of the market will be where smart home tech grows out from. Small apartments targeted to young families will be another trend in the new supply of smart homes,” he said.

According to JLL, more support from the government is much needed to foster the start-up culture, making it easier for companies to enter the smart tech market.

The consulting firm believes that as more competition enters the market, price will decrease and smart home will become more accessible. In the future, for homes to get truly smart there is a need for wider and better-quality network connectivity in Vietnam.