'We're still a home furnishing company, it's just that adding smart functionality can give our products superpowers': IKEA exec shares the brand's big smart home plans

At the start of this year, IKEA unveiled an affordable new smart home gadget range comprising various sensors, remote controls, and lightbulbs – all Matter-compatible. At the same time, we saw smart home features added to iconic product lines, such as the Varmblixt donut lamp.

I got a sneak preview of the new range at CES in January, and afterwards I caught up with David Granath, Range Manager for Lighting and Home Electronics at IKEA, to find out more about the brand's longer-term smart home plans.

The short version is: it looks like smart functionality will become more common at IKEA. "This launch of sensors, bulbs and remote is the foundation of rebuilding our smart home range and we will continue to expand into new areas," he says.

The rebooted Matter-compatible smart home range comprises 21 new gadgets, almost all of which are under $10 / £10. There's a remote control range, motion sensors for doors and windows, water leaks, humidity and temperature, air quality, plus a smart plug and various smart bulbs. Some are already available to buy, and others will become available from April.

Those are all standalone smart products, but smart features are also making their way into existing products – although never just for the sake of it.

David calls out the newly-smart VARMBLIXT donut lamp as being a great example of the brand's approach, saying it'll only be used "in the places where it genuinely improves a product".

Don't expect IKEA to be turning its back on its home décor roots, either – it's approaching smart functionality as an extension possibility rather than a new category. "In the long term we don't really see smart products as a segment at all," reveals David.

"We're still a home furnishing company, it's just that adding smart functionality has now become affordable enough so that we can give our products superpowers. Long term we think that we have the opportunity to improve life at home quite a bit."

Simple, affordable, relevant

Some of the new sensors were previously available in older ranges, but an all-important upgrade here is that the new versions are Matter-compatible. Working with the universal Matter standard was essential to IKEA's smart home vision. "It removes one of the biggest barriers to getting started with a smart home," says David.

Matter-compatibility means customers don't have to spend time and effort understanding standards and ecosystems, or making sure X product works with Y hub; the products will connect and just work.

"For us, Matter is an important step in making smart homes simpler and more affordable, and therefore relevant to more people," he adds.

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