IKEA Uppleva or IKEA beat Apple to the TV disruption business

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12 points·dyml··5 comments

I'm concerned about how the IKEA brand will work for electronics. Either this will elevate the brand, and do wonders for our impressions of their furniture, or people will worry that this TV will be a cheap, temporary solution that needs to be replaced after a year or two.

Some IKEA products are great and last a long time. Others are cheap and fall apart quickly. I won't be the only one wondering which description applies to this TV.

They do give 5 year warrant... so :)

I don't find this disruptive at all. It's an average TV and a TV stand. Most of the features they show off are features of the stand. What's interesting (and smart) here is that IKEA is selling TVs. I expect an Apple TV would be more innovative with the technology rather than the furniture (Siri, iTunes, AirPlay) and be heavily focused on content.

It's pretty much the definition of "disruptive innovation". The TV manufacturers compete amongst themselves and keep adding bells and whistles to their TVs that aren't really wanted by the customer meanwhile the cost of providing the core product of "an average TV" plummets so much that an outsider can come in with a cheap alternative approach that solves a real problem, in this case by integration of the smart TV, DVD player, remote, wired speakers, wireless subwoofer, stand and general decor (i.e. replaceable color trim).

Considering the recent success of fashion headphones and fashion smartphones against incumbents who didn't seem to realise they were selling fashion items I can see this being big.

I'm very tempted to get one of these. But I probably can't since I'm moving soon to a place I can't decorate how I want it. :(

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