Why is smart home system in Malaysia still so expensive ah?

Been looking at smart home setups in Malaysia recently and honestly, I still feel the pricing is a bit hard to swallow lah.

My take is simple: in Malaysia, you are not really paying just for the device. You are paying for installation, setup, integration, troubleshooting, and after-sales support. So the whole thing ends up feeling more like a custom project than something normal people just buy and use.

That’s probably one big reason it hasn’t become common here. Even for a condo, if you only want a few items, the bill can already climb quite fast. I saw local packages starting from around RM3,990 and RM5,990 for basic automation, and once you go for a more proper package, it can go from RM10,000 and above. Even curtain automation alone can already start from around RM1,156. So yeah, not exactly cheap.

In the US and China, smart home feels a lot more normal. People can buy one device at a time and install it themselves. Over there it feels like consumer electronics. In Malaysia, it still feels like a service.

Another thing I think people don’t talk about enough is internet reliability. Here, a lot of people still have that “UniFi down again ah?” mindset. If your smart home depends too much on cloud control, then suddenly WiFi problem means lights, switches, and everything also become annoying. That kind of kills the whole “smart” feeling.

For me, smart home only makes sense if it is stable, local control works, and the price is not ridiculous. If not, most people will just say never mind and use normal switches lah.

Curious what others think. Do you guys actually use any smart home stuff in your house, or still feel it’s more trouble than it’s worth?