A Study on IoT-enabled Appliance Management Service Platform Business Model

Abstract

Although IoT-enabled appliances are commercially available, business models to provide services to those appliances has not been established yet. This study proposes a platform business model and assesses the feasibility of the business model. We identify three areas that are necessary to establish the business model: rules and regulations, technical interface and incentives of potential participants. We investigate current situations and show the first two conditions have been satisfied or will be satisfied in the near future. We consider consumers and OEMs as potential participants of the platform business and show that they have incentives to use the platform service by using an agent-based simulation. These findings help not only platformers but also OEMs to design their strategies.