How the Matter Standard Will Change the Smart Home Market

Today I attended an event about the Matter standard, with representatives from Silicon Labs, Schlage, Nanoleaf, Comcast, and the Zigbee Alliance, which is now called the Connectivity Standards Alliance.

Matter is an open-source standard (available on GitHub), created by an alliance of industry giants, such as Silicon Labs, Apple, Amazon, Google, Huawei, Tuya, Schneider Electric, Texas Instruments, SmartThings, Assa Abloy, Somfy, and others.

The Matter standard is an application layer, not a radio protocol like Bluetooth, Zigbee, Z-Wave, or Wi-Fi.

Underneath the Matter standard, several radio protocols can be used. The main ones are Thread and Wi-Fi.

The Thread protocol is an evolution of Zigbee, with the properties of a mesh network, low power consumption, OTA updates, and more, but with the routing capability of the IPv6 protocol.

And that makes all the difference.

With IP routing, the applications are countless, in addition to interoperability between devices and gateways from different brands.

Another relevant point about Thread is that it's the protocol chosen by Amazon, Google, and Apple for the smart home.

For example, the HomePod mini, the Apple TV 4K, and Google's Nest Hub (2nd generation) already have a Thread chip in their hardware, even though it isn't in use yet.

And when it comes to these three giants, it makes sense to go along with them.

Another crucial factor is security.

For the first time in history, blockchain technology is being applied to home automation.

Each node in the Matter standard will be registered on the blockchain and, by design, there is no centralized database, and the hardware or software can't be altered.

For me, this is the main innovation.

It was mentioned at the event that Bluetooth will be used to provision devices, which is wonderful.

Anyone who has added Tuya devices that have Bluetooth and Wi-Fi knows how easy it is to add the device to the network when the phone connects via Bluetooth.

Another important point is compatibility with existing devices.

Since the Matter standard is an application layer, and not a radio chip, the Google, Apple, or SmartThings ecosystems can act as a "bridge" between a "non-Matter" device and the Matter network.

I also loved the fact that there are already routers with a Thread chip.

This makes it possible to create Thread networks from the access point, which, by design, is installed as close as possible to the devices.

The first Matter devices are expected to hit the market in the second half of 2022, and we'll certainly hear a lot about it until then.

Some points are still open.

One of them is the possible requirement for manufacturers to get dual "Works with" certification. Another open question is whether it will be possible to update devices with Zigbee radios to Thread.

Even though all of this is new, I can only see good outcomes.

Because it's open source, software such as Home Assistant can keep evolving, and any other developer can create applications without worrying about radio compatibility.

A very relevant point is that, if Matter becomes the main smart home standard in the world, users will be able to choose the ecosystem they want to use with their smart devices and won't be forced to adopt a single platform.

And what about the professional market?

Every time the industry made smart devices easier to adopt, professional installers closed more projects.

That's what happened when low-cost Wi-Fi devices arrived. That's what happened when voice assistants became popular.

And it will certainly be the same with the Matter standard.

After all, only a tiny share of homes have automation.

The market is huge, and this movement is the missing step toward mass adoption, especially with blockchain security built in from the start of development.

Let's wait for the next chapters: what lies ahead is exciting.

Update (October 2026): Matter 1.0 was published on October 4, 2022, along with the certification program, and the standard hasn't stopped growing: version 1.5, from November 2025, brought cameras, and version 1.6, from June 2026, brought NFC setup. Bluetooth did end up being used for device provisioning, and the HomePod mini, the Apple TV 4K, and the Nest Hub (2nd generation) now work as Matter hubs with Thread.

On security, a clarification is in order: what uses blockchain is the DCL (Distributed Compliance Ledger), a registry maintained by the members of the Connectivity Standards Alliance with the data of each manufacturer and each certified model, not of each installed device. It's what the app or the hub checks during setup to confirm that the device is genuine and certified. And Zigbee hasn't been left behind: in November 2025, the alliance announced Zigbee 4.0.