According to an international magazine, Belkin is decreasing its support for the emerging Matter smart home standard.
Belkin will “take a large step back, regroup, and reconsider” its product strategy before deciding whether or not to include Matter support in any of its products, including its Wemo smart home brand devices. Belkin has reversed course after saying at CES 2022 that it would support Matter in a number of upcoming accessories.
Thread, the underlying network protocol used by Matter, is already supported by some Wemo devices to allow gadgets in your house to interact without overwhelming your Wi-Fi router. Yet, those gadgets continue to be dependent on Apple’s HomeKit environment for the time being.
In the fall of 2022, the long-delayed Matter standard was introduced. It’s supposed to eliminate the need for installing separate apps for each smart home device, making it easier to know exactly what you need when shopping for new gadgets. In theory, Matter gadgets should be compatible with HomeKit, Alexa, Google Home, or any hybrid of these three systems. When it comes to matter-compatible gadgets, functionality is maintained even if the accessory’s manufacturer goes out of business or is shut down.
Of course, it depends on whether or not businesses choose to back Matter; if not widely adopted, it risks becoming yet another competing standard, increasing disorder rather than bringing it.
Matter smart home system will not suffer much
Having only one brand not participating in Matter is not fatal. Some firms have announced or released new Matter devices, while others have modified their products to add Matter support. As of November 2022, more than 190 items had been certified as compliant with the Matter standard, and this number is expected to rise as new versions of the Matter standard incorporate compatibility for additional categories of smart home devices. Apple, Google, and Amazon, the three corporations who could most easily decide to sink Matter by not supporting it, are still on board with the standard.
Belkin has stated that their Wemo devices will support Matter whenever the business “finds a mechanism to identify them,” indicating that they may decide to adopt the standard in the future. Do not incorporate Wemo devices into your Matter-compatible smart home transformation until further notice.
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