IKEA bets on Matter

IKEA is trying to fix the most annoying part of the smart home: buying one bulb for Amazon Alexa, another sensor for Apple Siri, and then finding out they do not talk to each other. Its new push is built around Matter, a standard backed by the Connectivity Standards Alliance that is supposed to make devices from different brands work together. (ikea.com, csa-iot.org) On November 6, 2025, IKEA said it was launching 21 new smart-home products across lighting, sensors, and controls, and said all of them were built to work with Matter. IKEA also said this was not a side project but a rebuild of its smart-home system “from the ground up.” (ikea.com) Matter is basically a common language for gadgets in your house. The Connectivity Standards Alliance says Matter is designed so devices from multiple brands work natively together, with local connectivity and a single certification mark that tells shoppers what should be compatible. (csa-iot.org, csa-iot.org) IKEA’s pitch is not “buy our whole ecosystem.” IKEA’s own setup guide says you can open Apple Home, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, or the IKEA Home Smart app, scan the Matter code, and get the same device working across multiple platforms at the same time. (ikea.com) That matters most at IKEA prices, because the company is trying to be the cheap on-ramp to a mixed-brand home instead of the premium brand that locks you in. IKEA says the new range is aimed at “real homes and real budgets,” and its DIRIGERA hub sells in the United States for $109. (ikea.com, ikea.com) The hub is the bridge between IKEA’s old world and its new one. IKEA says DIRIGERA is both a Matter controller and a Matter bridge, which means it can manage new Matter devices and also pull older IKEA Zigbee devices into platforms that support Matter. (ikea.com, ikea.com) IKEA is also leaning on Thread, which is the low-power mesh network many newer smart-home devices use to pass messages around the house like runners in a relay. IKEA says many of its new sensors use Thread for better speed, range, and reliability. (ikea.com) The product categories tell you who IKEA thinks this is for. The company highlighted bulbs, motion sensors, air-quality sensors, humidity sensors, water-leak sensors, remotes, and a smart plug, which are the boring, useful devices that solve everyday problems without rewiring a wall. (ikea.com) That same logic shows up in IKEA’s work-from-home push. Its home-office ideas focus on flexible desks, storage, and setups that fit into shared living spaces instead of dedicated renovations, and recent office ranges like MITTZON were built around compact, adaptable work areas for home use. (ikea.com, apartmenttherapy.com) So IKEA is making the same bet in two parts of the house at once. In the living room, it wants smart devices that work with whatever phone assistant you already use, and in the spare corner, it wants work-from-home upgrades that do not require a contractor, which is a very IKEA way to sell the future: flatter, cheaper, and easier to carry home yourself. (ikea.com, ikea.com, ikea.com)