Ikea Bets Big on Matter: A New Era for Smart Home

Ikea is relaunching its smart home line, embracing the Matter standard to make its affordable products compatible with other brands, with or without Ikea's own hub. Starting in January, over 20 new Matter-over-Thread smart lights, sensors, and remotes will launch, with more to come. Simultaneously, Ikea is rebooting its audio offerings with a new line of inexpensive Bluetooth speakers. This push aims for a simple, affordable smart home experience, leveraging its learnings from Zigbee and its involvement in developing the Matter standard. An update to the Dirigera hub makes it a Matter controller and Thread border router, enabling interoperability with other brands and paving the way for a more open smart home ecosystem.