宜家也要做智能家居了

Ikea is formalizing what has recently become all too obvious: the company is making a major bet on smart home tech as a source of new revenue.

宜家正式公佈了最近衆所周知的一個消息：該公司在智能家居技術這一新的賺錢項目上押了大注。

To do this, Ikea announced that it will invest heavily in a new “Ikea Home smart” business unit with end-to-end responsibility for its burgeoning portfolio of smart devices.

宜家宣佈爲了實現這一目標將大力投資新的“宜家智能家居”業務部門，該部門負責快速發展的智能設備組合的端到端業務。

With access to 780 million shoppers who visit Ikea stores each year, the announcement also serves as a wake-up call to smart home incumbents like Google and Amazon.

每年有7.8億消費者光顧宜家，這一公告對谷歌和亞馬遜這樣的智能家居企業敲響了警鐘。

“We have decided to invest significantly in Home smart across Ikea to fast-forward the development. This is the biggest New Business we are establishing since the introduction of Children’s Ikea,” said Peter van der Poel, manager Ikea Range & Supply, aka, the box that sits above Ikea of Sweden within the complicated Ikea Group org chart.

宜家 Range & Supply在複雜的宜家集團組織結構圖中地位高於瑞典宜家，其經理 Peter van der Poel說：“我們已經決定在宜家全範圍大力投資智能家居以快速推動其發展。這是在兒童宜家推出以來我們正在建立的最大的新業務。”

The new business unit is helmed by the aptly-named Björn Block, and sits alongside Ikea of Sweden’s ten other business units that include Lighting, Livingroom & Workspace, Textiles, Kitchen and Dining, and Ikea Food.

這個新的業務部門由Björn Block負責，跟瑞典宜家包括Lighting、Livingroom & Workspace、Textiles、Kitchen and Dining和Ikea Food在內的其他10個業務部門一起辦公。

Ikea’s smart home ambitions first became visible in 2015 with the introduction of tables and lamps that could wirelessly charge Qi-compatible phones.

2015年宜家首次提出智能家居目標，推出可以爲Qi兼容手機無線充電的桌子和燈具。

In 2017, it expanded into affordable smart lighting, before partnering with Sonos for this month’s launch of relatively inexpensive whole-home audio.

2017年宜家將業務擴展到價格合理的智能照明，此後和Sonos合作於本月推出了相對廉價的全家音響。

Ikea’s first smart blinds will start sales in the US on October 1st. What’s next?

宜家第一個智能窗簾將於10月1日在美國開售。下一個會是什麼呢？