The Matter smart home standard now supports more than 1,200 certified devices across 15 categories, up from roughly 130 products at its 2022 launch, according to the Connectivity Standards Alliance. The milestone arrives as IoT Analytics projects global connected IoT devices will reach 18.8 billion by year-end, a 13 percent jump from 16.6 billion in 2023.
Two years after its debut, Matter is no longer a promise. It's a product catalog. Smart locks from Yale and Schlage, robot vacuums from Ecovacs and Roborock, light bulbs from Nanoleaf and Philips Hue, and thermostats from Ecobee and Google all carry the logo. The standard runs on Wi-Fi and Thread, uses Bluetooth Low Energy for setup, and lets a single device join Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Samsung SmartThings simultaneously -- no separate hubs, no competing apps.
That interoperability is the point, and it is what separates Matter from every previous smart home attempt. Zigbee and Z-Wave both succeeded within narrow circles, but neither won Apple or Amazon. Matter has all four major platforms at the table from day one. It is not perfect, but it is the closest thing the industry has to a shared language. That interoperability is the point. For years, buying a smart bulb meant picking an ecosystem first. Matter flips the script: buy the device, then choose the controller. A homeowner can ask Siri to dim the lights, tell Alexa to lock the door, and have Google Assistant start the vacuum -- all on hardware that speaks the same language.
The numbers behind the growth
IoT Analytics counts 18.8 billion active IoT connections worldwide by December 2024, driven by Wi-Fi at 31 percent, Bluetooth at 25 percent, and cellular at nearly 21 percent. The firm's summer report notes that 51 percent of enterprise IoT adopters plan to increase budgets this year despite inflation and chip supply constraints. Satyajit Sinha, the report's lead analyst, attributes the slower-than-expected growth to cautious enterprise spending and a sluggish Chinese industrial sector where 30 percent of firms were losing money as of June.
Consumer smart home gear accounts for a slice of that total, but it's the most visible. The Verge's December 2024 tracker lists Matter-compatible products from over 50 brands. Jennifer Pattison Tuohy, who maintains the list, notes that while the catalog has expanded, not every platform supports every device type. Security cameras and security systems remain absent from the spec.
What Matter 1.4 changed
The November 2024 specification update added energy management devices -- solar panels, batteries, heat pumps, water heaters -- and introduced Enhanced Multi-Admin, which lets a device join multiple ecosystems without re-commissioning. A May 2025 point release added NFC tap-to-pair and multi-device QR codes for bulb packs. Each spec bump opens the door for new hardware, but platform integration lags. Apple, Google, Amazon, and Samsung have been slow to roll out support for the latest device types in their apps.
Thread, the low-power mesh protocol that underpins many Matter devices, also got a 1.4 update. Multiple Thread border routers from different vendors can cause routing conflicts, a known issue the Alliance is addressing. Apple's iPhone 15 Pro and later models now act as Thread border routers themselves, simplifying onboarding for HomeKit users.
The China factor
Chinese manufacturers dominate the supply side. Tuya, Espressif, and Tasmota-powered devices flood Amazon and AliExpress. Many ship with Matter firmware but lack CSA certification, meaning they work in some ecosystems but fail compliance tests. US sanctions on Chinese chips and a domestic module oversupply have forced nearly 11,000 chip-related firms to shut down in 2023, according to Tom's Hardware. That consolidation may reduce cheap uncertified options but could also raise prices for certified gear.
What's still missing
Security cameras. Video doorbells. Environmental sensors beyond temperature and humidity. The CSA says camera support is coming in a future spec, but no timeline is public. Until then, buyers who want unified camera feeds across Apple, Google, and Amazon need proprietary bridges or Home Assistant. Energy management, while now in the spec, has few certified products on shelves. Most smart electrical panels and EV chargers still speak Modbus or OCPP, not Matter.
Matter also doesn't solve cloud dependency. A Matter lock works locally when the internet dies, but its activity log, firmware updates, and remote access still need the vendor's cloud. Some brands -- Eve, Nanoleaf, Aqara -- prioritize local-first architectures. Others treat Matter as a checkbox for retail packaging.
Matter 1.4 also added multi-device setup via multi-pack QR codes, which helps bulb boxes and plug sets ship with one code instead of ten. NFC tap onboarding eliminates the need to scan hidden QR codes under devices. These details matter to installers and to anyone who has fought with a smart plug buried in a wall.
The CSA says the standard will eventually cover security cameras, but the specification has not arrived. For now, buyers who want unified video feeds across Apple, Google, and Amazon must rely on proprietary bridges or on Home Assistant running locally. It is a gap, and the Alliance admits it. The average smart home runs 12 connected devices today, up from 7 in 2021, according to a 2024 survey by Parks Associates. That growth drives demand for inter-operability, and it is why the CSA has pushed the base spec to cover energy management and multi-admin control. Without these additions, homes with solar arrays, EV chargers, and smart thermostats would need separate apps for each device class.## Where this heads next
The CSA targets 40 billion IoT connections by 2030. Matter's role in that expansion depends on whether the major platforms stop treating it as a side project. Google's Home app still buries Matter device controls. Apple's HomeKit certification remains stricter than the baseline spec. Amazon's Alexa certification program adds its own test cases. Samsung's SmartThings hub lineup has not refreshed since 2022.
For now, the standard works. A December 2024 audit by the CSA showed 98 percent of certified devices passed interoperability testing across all four major platforms. That's a higher pass rate than Zigbee or Z-Wave ever achieved. The catalog will keep growing. The question is whether the user experience catches up.
