Nota: This article has been modified after confirmation of the agreement and updated to reflect this new information. At the end of it you will find the new data related to the announcement.
Surely you have also raised an eyebrow when reading:Xiaomi e IKEA together? That seems to be the next step for the great Chinese company. Everything indicates that tomorrow will be the day this strategic collaboration is made public, which will only expand the business of the Asian firm. We tell you what we know at the moment.
IKEA and Xiaomi: an agreement that would be based on AI
Xiaomi's MIDC 2018 developer conference starts tomorrow, where everyone hopes to see Lei Jun, co-founder and CEO of the Asian company. His presence would also be more than justified this year, according to rumors, since Jun is expected to announce a new partnership with IKEA, a strategic agreement about which little is known at the moment but that many already dare to outline.
And it is that the developers conference is especially focused on artificial intelligence and its symbiosis with the Internet of Things (IoT), two ideal elements to unite with the products of the Swedish house. IKEA is not new to this connected house: the firm began offering furniture a while ago that included support for telephones with wireless charging, for example, and currently has more products of a technological nature, such as the various devices in its range smart lighting.
Xiaomi for its part also has a large catalog of products for the home and with “connected technology”. The manufacturer has been making it clear for a long time that it is more than just a phone brand and currently markets robot vacuum cleaners, lamps, air and water purifiers, fans and even a smart WC toilet.
Remember also that the Chinese firm launched this year its own assistant with artificial intelligence baptized as Xiao AI, capable of controlling and providing service from the smartphone to any of the aforementioned devices of the home automation ecosystem that the company has set up. He has everything ready.
A collaboration between both companies therefore seems to us to be less interesting and attractive to the user. Perhaps this means a greater distribution of Xiaomi's smart home products in IKEA stores or, perhaps, the seed of a new work team for the development of new products that are distributed within the European house with its own technology. from Xiaomi -we are more inclined towards this second idea.
And you, what do you think could come out of such an agreement?
Updated: No sooner said than done. Xiaomi has confirmed its new alliance with IKEA that guarantees for the moment the compatibility and support of all the lighting products of the Swedish firm with the IoT platform of the Asian company starting in December in China. We will have to see how this relationship evolves and transcends outside Xiaomi's native country. Hopefully versions like the xiaomi connected fan, but in Ikea version.
Today, Xiaomi announced a strategic partnership with IKEA. The move means IKEA's full range of smart lighting products will be connected to Xiaomi's IoT platform starting this December in China. Would you like to light up your life with Xiaomi? #Xiaomi #IKEA #IoT #SmartLiving pic.twitter.com/k3GzAFayDH
- We (@xiaomi) November 28th 2018