An interview with Alexander Döpper of SmartSpace Consulting (link). He advises on smart homes, smart buildings, and building automation, focusing on market and customer strategy, technology, and system architecture. The Matter standard is playing an increasingly important role in this context. In a conversation with matter-smarthome, the building technology expert explains why.
Dies ist die Übersetzung eines deutschen Interviews.
Zum Original bitte hier entlang.
Mr. Döpper, you have been active in the electrical installation and building technology sector for nearly 20 years, and this year you started your own consulting firm. Why is the Matter standard important for you and your clients?
Alexander Döpper: I took my first steps in building technology in 2012 with KNX, back when I was still at Busch-Jaeger. And KNX continues to occupy me today, alongside numerous other standards. My consulting services are based on three pillars: a strategic component – i.e., market and customer – my technical expertise in protocols and technologies, and a network that has grown over many years. Matter is having a profound transformative effect on both strategy and technology. That’s why I’m inevitably involved with it.
Can you explain that in more detail?
Döpper: Matter is the first technological smart home standard that is consistently IP‑based and built on IPv6. That is fundamentally different from something like Zigbee, where the physical layer is tightly coupled to the application layer. In the past, this coupling led to virtually every Zigbee manufacturer launching its own hub or gateway – which is one of the reasons the standard never really took off.
Matter breaks this link, which has consequences not only for companies’ development departments. The effects of the standard are also noticeable on the market and in customer relationships. With almost 7,500 Matter products now listed and interoperability, a new customer journey is emerging—because end consumers no longer necessarily need an electrician.
“Consumers no longer necessarily need an electrician.”
Many installers don’t see that as a problem, since they view Matter as a consumer standard anyway …
Döpper: Matter has strong transformation potential across the entire value chain – from manufacturers to distributors to end customers. Established players are coming under massive pressure with their existing portfolios, which use other technologies. At the same time, consumer and purchasing behavior is changing, including distribution channels.
Many of the solutions currently available on the market are wired or use proprietary wireless systems. Matter opens up a large portfolio of wireless products and systems that end customers can install themselves. After just three years, the standard covers a wide range of applications, from lighting and shading to ventilation, heating, and household appliances. I am curious to see how development will continue when renewable energies are added—with heat pumps, wall boxes, and so on, all of which will also be IP-based. The trade must adapt to this scenario if it wants to remain relevant in the long term.
The trade has been working with KNX for more than 30 years. How will roles be distributed when Matter gains importance?
Döpper: Two worlds collide. On the Matter side, global platform players have been promoting the topic and making it technically viable since the beginning. KNX is also globally positioned, but originates from the B2B and industrial environment. It has never made it out of this professional context into the broad end customer market.
Without wishing to make any judgement, KNX does present certain hurdles for tradespeople and end customers. A KNX installation is relatively simple in terms of topology and cabling. But programming requires knowledge that is best practiced regularly. It’s like driving a car: if I only get behind the wheel three times a year, I have a different level of confidence than if I drive every day. Those who only do KNX projects occasionally do not acquire the same routine as someone who works with it all the time. For many installers, this is an obstacle – in addition to the question whether there is sufficient demand for KNX in residential and commercial construction in their region. Without sufficient demand, the hurdle remains high for confidently navigating the market with KNX.
“KNX programming requires knowledge that is best practiced regularly.”
For end customers, there is the additional factor that they usually need a qualified electrician for KNX adjustments. The electricians charge for their working time and, in some cases, for travel time as well. This results in costs that consumers are reluctant to bear. They also realize that they lack control over their own smart home. “My home is my castle” may not apply at all. This is a key difference to Matter, which does not require specialized engineering software like ETS for basic setup and is overall much more intuitive.
Many professionals would argue that this is precisely the disadvantage of Matter compared to KNX: there is no unified commissioning software …
Döpper: That’s right, it can be a disadvantage, depending on your perspective and who you talk to. But against the backdrop of a shortage of skilled workers, the entire industry needs to address the role of the installer. What will their tasks look like in the future?
I believe that smart electricians or specialist companies see Matter as an opportunity and consider themselves as system integrators. They can say: “I bring together professional installation worlds with B2C-driven products and solutions. I am the connecting link for you.” That is the added value a specialist company can provide – not just installing a new dimmer, but thinking holistically, advising customers comprehensively, and offering complete solutions.
That sounds good, but can the Matter standard achieve something that KNX hasn’t in 35 years of existence?
Döpper: Matter has already achieved something that hardly any other system has been able to do: system-independent attention from end customers. Even today, people outside my professional circle are asking me about the standard, and interest is growing. KNX had a bottleneck at the distributor – the KNX-enabled electrical contractor needed for installation. With Matter, this is no longer absolutely necessary. At the end of the day, end customers will often have already decided on a platform based on previous purchases. Through Apple Home, Samsung SmartThings, or other smart home ecosystems, they inevitably come into contact with the topic. This is a significant factor in terms of relevance, customer journey, and associated alternative sales channels.
“KNX had a bottleneck at the distributor – the KNX-enabled electrical contractor needed for installation.”
But customers also get used to a different cost structure, since they don’t have to pay for bus cabling and can expand their smart home step by step over wireless …
Döpper: It’s true that KNX is about 95 percent a wired solution. There are wireless variants, but at its core, it’s about laid cables. With Matter, the opposite is true: the standard does provide for Ethernet, but in 90 to 95 percent of cases, we’re talking about wireless products, which pays off in terms of simplicity. Above all, however, there are different customer journeys and sales channels. The path taken by smart home users who expand step by step is different from that of builders who commission a ready-to-use smart home as a project.
In the end, the total price does not depend so much on the technology. The idea that a DIY smart home, which I gradually add to, is ultimately cheaper is a myth that I would like to dispel. Just one example: if I install numerous wireless lamps in my house, each costing 50 euros, it’s not cheaper than installing high-quality dimmers that control conventional lamps or RGBW-compatible LED solutions that are natively integrated into my electrical installation. So it’s more about the willingness to invest at the beginning and whether I have the means and the confidence to make everything smart in one big project at once.
You have already mentioned the sales channels. What is changing in the market?
Döpper: I see clear differentiation. There are classic electrical installers; e‑tailers who handle electrical installation including renewables; system integrators; and now also smart home providers who position themselves differently. They sell smart home as an application. The underlying technology matters less. It’s increasingly about value creation and service – value‑added and after‑sales offerings beyond simple installation.
This poses a challenge for traditional electrical wholesalers. For some time now, additional channels have emerged through which many of these new players source their products. That can be directly from manufacturers or through specialized online retailers – but no longer necessarily through wholesale distribution.
Manufacturers are also coming under pressure. Even before Matter, it was becoming clear that pure hardware – even IoT embedded devices – is getting a commodity, meaning largely interchangeable. A growing share of value creation is shifting to customers and to the software that runs on devices. That puts significant pressure on development teams.
“Even before Matter it was becoming clear that pure hardware is getting increasingly interchangeable.”
Software is becoming increasingly important. We’re seeing this with many automakers. Is the European electrical industry facing a similar dilemma?
Döpper : You could put it this way: software eats hardware for breakfast. Based on experience, I know demand for software developers and engineers is significantly higher than the available talent. The fight for talent is happening not only in the trades but especially in software. The analogy to the automotive market fits, because in both industries the differentiating factor is shifting from hardware to software. Put simply: in the past, the auto industry competed on panel gaps, and building technology competed on design. Today, all good manufacturers can deliver nice aesthetics and precise measurements.
So what do manufacturers need to offer when the previous success factors for differentiation are no longer sufficient? It’s all about ease of use, user interfaces, interoperability, and plug-and-play capability between devices – without requiring extensive programming or manual searching on the network. Matter is an accelerator and catalyst in this process.
What does this mean for companies already manufacturing building technology or smart home products?
Döpper : For European manufacturers – especially the large, established companies in Germany with long industrial histories – it’s important to develop an understanding of the ongoing transformation. Only then can they engage in an honest strategic process and define a clear market position.
In my client work, I see how difficult this is for many. These are often large organizations with long‑standing traditions, established sales channels, and entrenched development processes. Companies sense that change is needed in many areas. But large transformations are painful; they almost always come with discomfort.
Technical strategy is only one side; the other side involves people, structures, and culture – the elements that make transformation possible. This requires new ways of thinking, new leadership culture, and new communication patterns. That’s why my business partner and I don’t just help clients define a technical strategy but also support them in translating that strategy into organizational and cultural transformation.
“I recommend viewing KNX and Matter not as areas of conflict, but as an opportunity.”
Every path is unique, but the goal should be to move away from pure product sales and toward solution engineering, ideally across different technologies and protocols. This is how worlds can be connected. I recommend viewing KNX and Matter not as areas of conflict, but as an opportunity to unite multiple segments under one roof – for added value in the form of services.
Mr Döpper, thank you very much for this interview.
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