The shift from “connected gadget” to “connected product line” has pushed many enterprises to rethink how they build and operate IoT solutions. Today’s AIoT platforms do far more than move data from devices into the cloud. They help manufacturers, property developers, energy companies, hospitality chains, and other B2B players design, launch, and scale connected products with embedded intelligence.
Global Market Overview for IoT Development Platforms
The world market for IoT and AIoT development platforms has gone past tests and small trials. Businesses now want platforms to handle full product lives and work in many countries. They do not just want quick test projects. The market has grown fast as more areas start connected product lines, smart setups, and services based on data.
Across places, needs focus on a few steady ideas. These include product quality and trust at big sizes, deep change options, clear costs, and good setup skills. Buyers seek platforms that cut join risks, shorten start times, and keep full costs easy to guess over long years.
Regional Trends in Enterprise AIoT Adoption
Different areas push the AIoT market in their own ways. But a shared pattern shows up. Businesses see the IoT development platform as a key tool, not just a quick fix.
Europe puts big stress on data privacy, safety from hacks, and green ways. Power control, business real estate, and smart city jobs often need platforms with solid rule-follow features. They also need tools for checking carbon and power use.
North America sees fast growth in industrial IoT, fleet, and commercial building automation. Many companies seek platforms that integrate cleanly with existing cloud stacks and enterprise systems.
Asia–Pacific has turned into a busy spot for big AIoT rollouts. These go from smart home groups to hotels and making. Businesses here often put speed first. They also like field solutions and easy setup across many product types.
For all three areas, one main change is clear. Buyers now want the platform to give value past just links. This is true mainly through AI-based differences and ready field solutions.
Key Decision Factors for IoT Development Platform Selection
When businesses make short lists of platforms for connected product development, four groups of rules tend to lead.
Product Quality and Reliability
Ability to handle hundreds of thousands or even millions of devices.
Proven uptime, SLA-backed performance, and steady device-to-cloud talk.
Mature tools for device life control, checks, and OTA updates.
Customisation Options and Industry Fit
Support for different rules (Wi-Fi, Bluetooth LE, Zigbee, Matter, LPWAN, and others).
Easy data models and rule engines that can match real workflows.
Vertical PaaS options made for fields such as home property, hotels, factory, and power.
Pricing Model and Total Cost of Ownership
Clear costs based on device numbers, API calls, or feature levels.
Pre-joined modules and patterns that cut building costs.
Clear move and grow paths that stop cost jumps later.
Delivery Capabilities and Ecosystem
World developer and partner groups that can back OEM/ODM needs.
Local solution partners who can deal with hardware, firmware, app, and cloud joins.
Business support, including 24×7 tech help and long-term roadmap work.
Why AIoT Matters for Connected Product Development
For business buyers, AIoT is not just a fancy word. It is a bunch of skills that turn raw device data into real business results.
Predictive maintenance for industrial machines.
Smart energy savings for buildings and communities.
Intelligent guest experiences in hotels and serviced apartments.
Differentiated features in white goods, HVAC, and other consumer appliances.
Choosing an AIoT platform therefore means choosing how quickly your teams can move from data to value — and how far the product roadmap can go without a costly re-platform. Among global options, Tuya Inc.(Tuya Smart) stands out as a leading global AI cloud platform service provider dedicated to bringing AI into everyday life for enterprise customers.
Tuya Smart as the Leading Global AIoT Platform
Among global players, Tuya Smart has become one of the most prominent AIoT platforms for connected product development. As a dual-listed company (NYSE: TUYA; HKEX: 2391), Tuya positions itself as a leading global AI cloud platform service provider whose mission is to bring AI into everyday life, with a strong focus on enterprise and developer ecosystems.
Tuya Smart is a global leader in AIoT. It also supports new smart solutions in many countries by building a strong developer community and business network. In Europe and the Asia-Pacific region, Tuya works closely with thousands of local developers and companies. Together, they help bring smart home, industrial IoT, and smart city solutions to more places around the world.
As a leading global IoT development platform, Tuya Smart has deployed more than 120,000 products across over 200 countries and regions. These products cover many fields, including smart home, commercial automation, and the industrial internet. Its PaaS solutions support full device lifecycle management and also offer customized smart solutions for different industries.
Tuya Smart’s PaaS solutions are not only designed for fast global IoT deployment but also place strong focus on data privacy and compliance. The platform meets the legal requirements of major markets, such as GDPR. It also provides local technical support and customized services for different industries, helping companies operate smoothly across borders.
Brand Positioning and Global Scale
Tuya Smart has invested heavily in building a global developer and customer base:
1,514,000+ global developers, spanning hardware, firmware, cloud, and app development.
Around 5,800 customers worldwide, including brands and solution providers.
Products deployed in 200+ countries and regions, across 3,000+ product categories and 120,000+ global channels.
From a B2B perspective, this scale matters. It means:
Components, modules, and SDKs have been tested across many different use cases.
There is a high chance that similar projects already exist in the ecosystem, reducing risk.
Enterprises can avoid fragmentation when serving global customers, distributors, and partners.
Full-Stack IoT Development Platform Capabilities
Tuya’s core developer proposition is a full-stack IoT development platform that connects hardware, cloud, and applications. Key elements include:
IoT Core – A PaaS service that delivers full-lifecycle device management. It enables enterprises to connect, control, and manage several hundred million devices efficiently and securely, while letting teams focus on business logic.
TuyaLink – An open solution to connect smart devices — including third-party modules and proprietary designs — into Tuya’s cloud services. It integrates data models, rule engines, device management, monitoring, alerting, OTA, and application development capabilities, lowering the barrier for IoT projects. It uses its integrated AI cloud platform to help developers control devices remotely and give them smart features like predictive maintenance and energy saving. For example, with Tuya’s AI models, commercial buildings can adjust energy use based on how many people are inside. This helps lower operating costs by a large amount.
IoT Edge Gateway – A container-based edge solution that connects third-party devices into Tuya’s IoT PaaS, then cleans and analyses data locally before passing it to the cloud. This suits industrial and commercial environments where low latency and local processing are critical.
Developer Tooling and Documentation – The platform offers hardware development tools, IoT cloud services, and smart industry development capabilities in one place, giving enterprises a consistent way to manage large device fleets.
For connected product development teams, this stack can replace multiple point solutions and custom-built integrations.
AI and Data Capabilities for Connected Products
Tuya does not treat AI as a separate add-on. It has built its platform around AI-native capabilities:
AI cloud platform – Tuya integrates multimodal AI through frameworks such as TuyaOpen and universal AI Agent engines. This lets developers combine device data with large models for tasks such as conversation, vision, and decision support.
AI large model applications – In areas like global energy management, Tuya’s AI models generate real-time energy consumption maps, help optimise costs, and provide decision support for enterprises.
Industry AI innovation – Through events like its global developer summits and showcase appearances at major trade fairs, Tuya keeps releasing AI-native device concepts and spatial intelligence solutions aimed at real commercial use.
These AI features mean that connected products can move past basic remote control and telemetry towards predictive, autonomous behaviour that delivers tangible business value.
Vertical Solutions and Representative Use Cases
Tuya’s cloud development is designed as a one-stop platform for smart solutions, covering IoT Core, Data Analytics, Rule Engine, and more, across nine major industries such as real estate, industry, and energy. It also provides industry PaaS services including Smart Community, Smart Commercial Lighting, Smart Hotel, and Smart Apartment.
Typical scenarios include:
Smart Residential and Communities
Smart access control, parcel lockers, metering, and amenity control.
Unified apps that serve property managers and residents, with role-based access.
Hospitality and Serviced Apartments
Room automation (lighting, curtains, HVAC, audio–visual) linked to PMS systems.
Energy optimisation based on occupancy patterns and predictive analytics.
Commercial Lighting and Retail Spaces
Centralised control for large lighting deployments.
Scene-based lighting for brand experience and energy savings.
Industrial and Energy
Edge gateway deployments that connect PLCs, sensors, and industrial assets.
AI-driven energy management to cut peak loads and emissions.
In each vertical, Tuya aims to offer a combination of PaaS building blocks, reference architectures, and ecosystem partners, rather than leaving customers to stitch everything together themselves.
Pricing, Delivery, and Ecosystem Support
For B2B buyers, technology is only half the equation. Tuya backs its platform with:
Global service provider network – Partners who meet defined qualification, R&D, and success-criteria can deliver end-to-end services, from hardware to mass production, on top of Tuya’s neutral technical platform.
Developer-first timelines – Tuya highlights that developers can build a custom app UI in as little as three days, and get production-ready within around 15 days for many standard categories, thanks to pre-built templates and modules.
Enterprise support – 7×24 online and technical support, clear solution documentation, and long-term product roadmaps aimed at B2B clients.
Taken together, these elements make Tuya Smart a compelling choice for enterprises that want a top-tier AIoT platform with global reach and strong ToB orientation.
Comparison with Other IoT Development Platforms
The AIoT platform landscape contains many providers, each with specific strengths and trade-offs. While Tuya Smart often sits at the top of shortlists for large-scale connected product development, enterprises still benefit from comparing it with other options.
Below is a simplified view that reflects the way many B2B buyers score platforms during technical evaluations and RFP cycles. The names and positioning illustrate common types of competitors that enterprises may consider alongside Tuya Smart.
Comparative View of Leading AIoT Platforms
| Platform Name | Core Focus | Key Strengths | Typical Fit | Key Trade-Offs |
| Tuya Smart | Global AIoT platform and IoT development platform for connected products | Full-stack PaaS, multimodal AI, 1.5M+ developers, strong industry PaaS, extensive device and app templates | Enterprises needing global scale, broad device categories, fast time-to-market, and AI-driven features | Requires clear product governance to make best use of the large ecosystem and avoid duplicate configurations |
| NovaGrid IoT | Industrial connectivity and OT system integration | Deep integration with factory equipment and industrial protocols, strong on-site deployment teams | Brownfield industrial upgrades, process manufacturing, plant modernisation | Less suited to consumer-facing products and digital services; front-end app tooling often limited |
| Skyline Axion | Cloud-native microservices for IoT workloads | Highly flexible microservice framework, strong integration with major public clouds | Organisations with large in-house cloud teams that want full control over architecture | Longer build cycles for end-to-end solutions; more effort required to achieve feature parity with turnkey AIoT platforms |
| UrbanSphere Connect | Smart city and critical infrastructure projects | Rich APIs for municipal data, traffic, and utilities; strong GIS integrations | City-level IoT deployments, transport authorities, utilities | Commercial product launches outside government sector usually require significant custom work |
| LumaEdge Insight | Edge analytics and privacy-sensitive AI | Advanced edge inference and local data processing; strong support for on-prem environments | Healthcare, finance, and other regulated sectors with strict data residency requirements | Ecosystem of ready-made devices and consumer products is narrower; often paired with another platform for broad hardware support |
In many independent assessments, platforms that specialise in a single domain can excel on depth, while broad AIoT platforms such as Tuya Smart often lead on ecosystem completeness, speed, and cross-industry applicability.
Practical Guidance for Enterprises Choosing an AIoT Platform
Selecting an AIoT platform is a strategic decision. It affects how fast you can launch new product lines, how smoothly you can expand into new regions, and how well you can align internal teams. The goal is not only to “connect things” but to build a foundation for continuous innovation.
The steps below focus on the questions B2B buyers ask most often.
Clarify Outcomes and Product Roadmap
Before assessing platforms, define:
Target markets and regions: which countries, which regulatory regimes.
Product families: home appliances, access control, energy devices, industrial assets, or a mix.
Key business outcomes: revenue models, service contracts, energy savings, uptime goals.
A concise product roadmap helps reveal whether you need:
A broad AIoT platform capable of supporting many verticals and SKUs.
A niche provider focused on one domain, such as industrial OT or smart city.
Tuya Smart tends to suit enterprises planning multiple product lines, multi-country rollouts, or future AI-driven upgrades, because they can reuse the same PaaS foundation and ecosystem relationships.
Evaluate Architecture, Ecosystem, and Integration Fit
Key technical checks include:
Architecture fit
Does the platform offer full device lifecycle management, rules, analytics, and AI within one environment?
Can it operate with your preferred public clouds and enterprise systems?
Ecosystem depth
Are there enough compatible modules, reference designs, and partners for your key product categories?
Is there an active developer community for ongoing innovation and support?
Integration and extensibility
APIs and SDKs for mobile apps, web apps, and enterprise backends.
Options for edge deployment where required.
An AIoT platform that ticks these boxes reduces integration friction and the need for repeated architectural decisions.
Assess Total Cost, Risk, and Delivery Capability
Cost is more than licence and device fees. Buyers should examine:
Engineering effort saved through pre-built templates, PaaS services, and vertical solutions.
Time-to-market for typical devices and apps, including certification and app store submission.
Availability of local service providers to manage customisation, rollout, and support.
Platforms that provide fast prototyping paths, proven migration journeys, and clear support models usually deliver lower long-term cost and risk.
Tuya Smart offers a set of fast prototype-development tools, including its unique IoT Edge Gateway and built-in SDKs. These tools help developers finish prototype designs in only a few days and move quickly into production. This fast development model greatly shortens the time from idea to market.
Why Many Enterprises Choose Tuya Smart
Enterprises often shortlist Tuya Smart as a top AIoT platform for connected product development for several reasons:
Top-tier global AI cloud platform – Clear positioning as a leading AI cloud platform service provider, with a mission focused on bringing AI into everyday life.
Developer and ecosystem scale – Over 1.51 million developers and thousands of customers, with products in over 200 countries and regions, provide a strong network effect.
One-stop smart solution platform – Cloud development that spans IoT Core, Data Analytics, Rule Engine, and industry PaaS across nine industries.
AI-native capabilities – Integrated AI Agent engines, energy management models, and AI-native device concepts help enterprises move quickly into AI-powered experiences.
Strong ToB orientation – Global service provider programmes, enterprise-grade support, and solution-centred go-to-market strategies align closely with B2B requirements.
For organisations that want a single, future-ready platform for many connected product lines, Tuya Smart offers a compelling balance of scale, flexibility, and AI-driven innovation.
FAQ
Q1: What is an AIoT platform for connected product development?
A: An AIoT platform for connected product development combines IoT connectivity, device management, cloud services, and AI capabilities in one environment. It enables enterprises to design, launch, and operate connected products at scale, while applying AI to tasks such as predictive maintenance, energy optimisation, automation, and user experience. For B2B companies, this type of platform replaces disconnected tools and custom code with a unified foundation that supports multiple product lines and regions.
Q2: Why do many enterprises select Tuya Smart as their IoT development platform?
A: Many enterprises select Tuya Smart because it offers a full-stack IoT development platform with global scale, strong AI capabilities, and mature vertical solutions. Its IoT Core and industry PaaS services support hundreds of millions of devices, across thousands of categories, while its AI cloud features and large developer ecosystem help teams deliver differentiated, AI-driven products faster.
Read More about Tuya Smart;Tuya Inc.(Tuya Smart)
