Swedish furniture maker Ikea is to enter the consumer electronics market through a joint venture with China-based electronics company TCL Multimedia.

The joint venture will see Ikea launching furniture with integrated connected television and sound systems in Sweden, France, Poland, Germany and Italy in June, in seven more European countries this fall, and in its remaining markets in the summer of 2013.

Ikea’s ‘living room chief’ Magnus Bondesson said the unique concept is a large step for Ikea.

“We are launching a new concept where in one place you can buy your furniture and your electronics – designed for and matched with each other from start,” said Bondesson.

The furniture with built-in CD/DVD/Blu-ray players, televisions, and wireless sound systems are aimed to put away clutter of cords and remote controls in a living room. Here’s a video in which Ikea explains the concept:

“We’ve realised that people are watching more TV and are using electronics in their living rooms more and more,” Ikea spokeswoman Ylva Magnusson said. “We came up with this because we found that people want to get rid of the cables and they don’t want those mountains of remote controls either.”

Furniture with a simple combination bench unit, sound system and television, will cost around 6500 Swedish kronor (US$960), according to Ikea Sweden sales chief Tolga Oncu.

“With the way Ikea works, the way we can offer our products at the lowest prices on the market, we are convinced that this will be a really big success,” Oncu said.

TCL Multimedia, an electronics company headquartered in Shenzhen, China, manufactures multimedia electronics, televisions and home networking products under brands Rowa, TCL, RCA and Thomson.

Ikea’s joint venture with TCL Multimedia is not its first venture outside furniture market. The furniture maker has also sold appliances in the past through collaboration with home appliance manufacturers Electrolux and Whirlpool.

GB