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SMART HOME DEVICES PILE UP IN DIGITAL GRAVEYARD

INDUSTRY DESK■ 1 MIN READ
SUN, SEP 27, 2026

■ AI-SUMMARIZED FROM 1 SOURCE ▸ TIMELINE

Connected devices are failing at an alarming rate as companies shut down services and abandon products. The smart home market is littered with dead gadgets that no longer function.

A decade ago, former Apple engineers launched an ambitious smart oven with built-in scales, restaurant-grade heating, and AI-powered food recognition. It represented the promise of intelligent home technology. Today, that oven is obsolete—a cautionary tale in a growing graveyard of abandoned smart devices. Companies regularly discontinue services that power connected gadgets, rendering expensive hardware useless overnight. Users face a familiar pattern: products launch with fanfare, lose manufacturer interest, then vanish when cloud services shut down. The problem extends across categories. Smart speakers, connected appliances, and IoT devices routinely become paperweights when companies fold or deprioritize support. Without functioning backends, many devices cannot operate. Consumers investing in smart home ecosystems face genuine risk. A gadget purchased today may be unsupported within three to five years. The industry lacks standards for device longevity or graceful obsolescence. As the smart home market matures, this graveyard effect raises questions about sustainability and consumer protection in connected device markets.

■ SOURCES

► The Verge

■ SUMMARY WRITTEN BY AI FROM THE LINKS ABOVE

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