By Gadjo Cardenas Sevilla
Swedish DIY furniture powerhouse IKEA is flipping the switch on an all-in-one Uppleva HDTV solution that could shake up the home theatre market.
The Uppleva isn’t just an IKEA branded OEM HDTV made by another manufacturer but an entire concept.
It is part TV, part furniture and will integrate speakers, Internet connectivity and will focus on ease of use and installation which IKEA has sort of perfected with the furniture it sells.
IKEA believes that TVs, which are becoming increasingly larger in size and more complicated entertainment hubs, are considered to be more like furniture than appliances.
Uppleva comes as a solution to a problem. IKEA realized that their customers were having the persistent problem of how to best install HDTVs and all the usual adjuncts such as cable boxes, Blu Ray players, consoles and other accessories.
As a result, they devised an entire system that offers a high-end HDTV with the supporting furniture as well as a way to install and seamlessly hide all the cables.
Uppleva HDTV can be likened to Apple’s iMac as an all-in-one solution. The same way the iMac integrated a monitor, a case and all the hard drives into one device that cut down on clutter yet offered the benefits of regular PCs.
Complete IKEA HDTV systems including a Blu-ray player, 2.1 audio system and furniture are expected to retail for less than $1,000 and IKEA will debut the sets this year at Stockholm, Milan, Paris, Gdansk or Berlin and they will eventually make their way to North America in 2013.
If the Uppleva’s quality and features are up to par with what consumers can get out of big box stores, and pricing is competitive, IKEA might be able to disrupt the home theatre market and compete head to head with the major brands. This might be the first step for IKEA to compete in the home entertainment market.
IKEA has its vast networks of huge stores and the supporting infrastructure to sell and promote this new line of HDTVs as well as an understanding of the DIY market which can solve a lot of problems faced by customers installing a new HDTV, even if some assembly is required.
