The rollout of the first certifications for smart home standard Matter—formerly called "Project Connected Home over IP" or "CHIP"—has been delayed to 2022, according to a blog post from Connectivity Standards Alliance (CSA) CEO Tobin Richardson.

The Matter standard is backed by Apple, Google, Amazon, and many other big players in the smart home industry. Among other things, it sought to make sure that devices from disparate companies using differing technologies (like Wi-Fi or Zigbee) could reliably work together in some way or another.

We went over the specifics of the technologies used in the standard when it was first announced in 2019. It was previously slated to arrive before the end of 2021. This isn't the first time the standard has been delayed, however; it was originally planned for late 2020.

Richardson wrote that Matter has a feature-complete specification, "which means the final feature set and supported use cases have been ratified by the Matter Working Group" and that there are now more than 200 companies committed to the standard. The next phase is "building out device type support, testing, refining, and of course SDK development."

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But he went on to write that the SDK will now be arriving in 1H 2022 instead of 2H 2021:

In May of this year, we saw a development path with first devices through certification by the end of the year in 2021. With the completion of several test events and forecasting, our members have updated the schedule to reflect a commitment to ensuring that the SDK, and related tools, are ready to meet the expectations of the market when launched and enable a large ecosystem of interoperable Matter products. Our refined plans include ongoing SDK and certification program development in 2H 2021, targeting a “pre-ballot” version of the technical spec available to members at year's end. In the first half of 2022, we expect to see the SDK released, the first devices through certification, and our formal certification program opening.

Together with our members, we’ve updated these go-to-market plans to ensure the Matter specification, certification, and testing tools, and of course the SDK, are stable, deployable at scale, and meet market expectations for quality and interoperability. Our members continue to work hard to build these tools, and their own Matter products and we look forward to the first products and timelines revealed next year.

No one reason has been given for the delay, but as reported by IoT reporter Stacey Higginbotham, it's in part due to the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic and more companies choosing to support the standard.