The furniture giant, which is actively engaged in the production of "smart" lighting, has announced the release of the first lamp in the technological segment.
The device, designed in the style of an Edison incandescent lamp, will appear in retail stores for $10.
The first "smart light" to be included in the Tradfri product line could be a serious competitor to existing products on the market in the future. For comparison, a similar lamp Hue by Signify (formerly Philips Lighting) retails for $25. However, for Ikea, these are only the first steps in a relatively new direction for the company, and its ecosystem is still lagging behind that of Philips.
The lamp has a standard E26 connector and a glow temperature of 2200 Kelvin, which allows it to be considered as a decorative light source in the interior. Lamp light can be adjusted using a mobile application Ikea Home Smart or a wireless dimmer sold separately. Experts who have tested the new product note that compared to Hue, it has less smooth transitions in brightness, as well as a shorter illumination range, but at a price difference of $ 15 this is not significant.
Over the past year, Ikea has already sold about 5 million smart light bulbs and accessories, compared to 14 million from Signify. At the same time, it should be noted that Ikea launched a new direction on the market in 2017, while one of the world market leaders has been specializing in smart lighting since 2012. While the furniture giant saw record sales last year, Signify lowered its revenue forecast amid “deteriorating market conditions.” Experts say that with extensions Ikea shares The battle to sell smart bulbs is just getting started – there are around 26 billion light bulb plug-ins around the world today, and it's truly a gigantic market.
