By Claus Hetting, WiFi NOW CEO & Chairman
As the Matter initiative approaches its fourth anniversary, the Matter Working Group’s Daniel Moneta says the standard continues to offer IoT device manufacturers multiple ways of shaping and growing their businesses. Matter has become the basis for significant mass market advancements in wireless IoT while being supported by solid and certified interoperability. This is central for a great user experience, he says.
The Matter initiative for IoT interoperability was launched in October 2022 and today – closing in on four years and several hundred Matter-certified products later – it is hard not to declare the new standard a resounding success. The command-and-control protocol now supports more than 50 device categories ranging from plugs, locks, and cameras to EV chargers and robotic vacuums, among many others.
Daniel Moneta – who represents Samsung SmartThings at the Connectivity Standards Alliance – says he attributes Matter’s success to plenty of choice and even more inherent business opportunities. Daniel is also Chair of the Matter Marketing & Product Subgroup at the Connectivity Standards Alliance, which is responsible for defining new device types and features for Matter.
“Matter is about creating an interoperable IoT environment, so that consumers can mix and match their preferred Matter-certified smart home devices across brands and vendors. Bringing any new standard to market is a heavy lift, but we believe Matter is thriving because it allows for choice and never limits creativity. In fact, it inspires the exact opposite: Focus on new value creation,” Daniel Moneta says.
The Connectivity Standards Alliance is organising its inaugural ‘Unify’ event at the Hilton in Austin, Texas, this June 16-18. Speakers include Wi-Fi Alliance President & CEO Kevin Robinson, Daniel Moneta of SmartThings, and many other luminaries. For more information and to participate, click here.
Wi-Fi is a critical part of Matter in that Matter-certified IoT devices typically support Wi-Fi, BLE, and Thread. BLE was originally used for onboarding of Matter devices – and it still is – but recently the Matter standard has introduced the option of using Wi-Fi for onboarding. Wi-Fi Alliance certification is a prerequisite for Matter certification in the event that the Matter device in question connects with Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi connectivity is often essential because it provides IP-based networking for IoT devices.
Historically, smart home IoT ecosystems have been locked behind proprietary gateways – but this limitation is precisely what Matter is in the process of removing, Daniel Moneta says.”You can still create your own great experience as a smart home IoT device or ecosystem provider – and companies certainly do that. But Matter does not need to be the ‘soul’ of your solution, far from it. It simply gives consumers the option of connecting Matter-compliant devices from other vendors to the same system,” he says.
And while some Matter-compliant ecosystems are created by giants such as Apple, Google, Samsung, and even IKEA, Daniel Moneta argues that smaller companies actually benefit more.
“Matter is your portal to benefitting from a very large ecosystem of vendors. Larger companies may choose to create their own unique Matter-based experience while others may want to create a super low-cost single IoT device meant to be connected to other systems. We should think of Matter as additive, meaning interoperability that enhances product value, whatever the IoT product or ecosystem might be focusing on otherwise,” he says. Daniel Moneta will be speaking at Unify 2026 on June 16-18.
/Claus.
