Amazon just announced 5 offerings to shake up the home security market (AMZN)

Amazon announced a lineup of smart home security offerings last Friday, the latest move in a nearly four-year push into the connected home space, TechCrunchreports. The e-commerce titan is offering five smart home security packages ranging from $240 to $840, and all include in-home consultations and installations from Amazon employees.

Four of the five offerings include an Echo Dot smart speaker and none of the packages include a monthly fee. The announcement comes about two months after the companyboughtvideo doorbell maker Ring and four months after itpurchasedconnected camera manufacturer Blink.

Amazon’s offerings undercut much of the market in a bid to pull customers away from competitors and expand the pool of first-time smart home users.Amazon wants to draw customers away from professionally installed services like Vivint and Alarm.com. Unlike Amazon's new smart security lineups, these services require customers pay a one-time installation fee, as well as a monthly fee as long as the system is active. Vivint's monthly fees, for instance, range from$40 to $60 per monthover the lifespan of a 42-month contract.

Amazon's offerings — especially the more basic packages — are less expensive for consumers and could prompt current professionally installed customers to abandon these systems once their contracts are up. Moreover, it may force Vivint, Alarm.com, and providers to slash their prices to stay competitive with the e-commerce titan.

It also hopes to bring new consumers into the market. The US smart home market has long been plagued by slow growth, largely due to device and platform fragmentation and high prices. However, consumers' interest in smart home products is rising, even though adoption hasn't occurred yet. Forty-eight percent of US consumers plan to buy at least one connected home device during 2018, according toParks Associates, up 66% year-over-year. Amazon likely hopes it's uniquely positioned to cash in on this interest by offering lower prices to tap into its massive customer base.

Amazon's extensive, consumer-centric product lineup may give it an edge on Google-owned Nest in the highly competitive smart security market. Nest controls 41% of the US smart security market, slightly ahead of Ring’s 36% share,according toSlice Intelligence. However, the e-commerce giant can tout a more extensive product lineup — Nest only sells thermostats, security sensors, and cameras.

In addition, Amazon could use the data it collects from its ecosystem of smart home products to better inform other aspects of its business, creating greater value for consumers. For example, the security device could ensure deliveries are made when customers are home, based on their past behaviors, helping to meet US consumers'expectationsfor their parcels to arriveof placing their order.

Even with these challenges, many of the biggest consumer technology companies are now moving into the smart home market.

Nicholas Shields, research associate for Business Insider Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, has compiled a detailed report on the self-installed smart home that:

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Amazon just announced 5 offerings to shake up the home security market (AMZN)

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