The consumer market for smart thermostats is growing, and opportunity for smart thermostat makers — especially in the U.S. and Western Europe — is also on the rise; however, regional thermostat sales channels vary greatly. In the U.S., smart thermostat makers market directly to end users, but, in Europe, it’s the utilities that are marketing these products.
When the Nest Learning Thermostat debuted in 2011 in the U.S., the company decided to leapfrog the professional channel of installers and target end users directly. Doing so had many advantages for Nest Labs Inc., as the company didn’t have to compete with more established manufacturers, and going direct allowed them to target the more technologically inclined people they wanted to use their products.