Is America ready for the iToilet?

May 27, 2014
Lixil CEO Yoshiaki Fujimori likens the offering to the introduction of smart phones. If outfits like Google want to creat the smart home, why not incluide a smart toilet? Lixil plans to sell $50 million in smart toilets and plans an extensive ad campaign.

Multi-function, bidet-style "smart toilets" have been on the market for years with offering such as Kohler's Numi and Toto's Neorest. The products were for discriminating, not to mention, wealthy posteriors with prices in excess of $5,000. Now Japan's Lixil Corp., the parent of American Standard, is looking to mainstream smart toilets.

Writing on Mashable, author Todd Wasserman notes:

Smart toilets, which can sync with a user's smartphone via Bluetooth and even play their favorite tunes while doing their business on the bowl, are now in three-quarters of Japanese homes. In the U.S., they are still something a curiosity, with a niche following among the Hollywood celebrities and early adopters.

Not content to have the category remain a niche market, Lixil plans to spend as much as $5 million advertising the American Standard AT200 smart toilet.

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