Ikea’s $4 USB-C Charger Undercuts Apple and Anker in Budget Tech Push

Flat-pack furniture giant takes on flat-battery problem

Ikea’s newest aisle isn’t selling meatballs—it’s hawking electrons. The Swedish retailer this week slipped a $3.99 USB-C wall charger onto shelves in 48 countries, instantly becoming the cheapest name-brand option on the market and undercutting Apple’s 20 W adapter by 75 percent.

Why a furniture brand is suddenly in your pocket

"We noticed customers were leaving our stores to buy chargers elsewhere," Ikea’s global accessories chief, Elin Åkerlund, told reporters in Malmö. "If we can sell 100 million desk lamps, we can sell 100 million ways to power them."

The move is part of Ikea’s quiet pivot toward "home electronics"—a category that already includes wireless-charging nightstands and Sonos-compatible speakers. Analysts say the strategy targets Gen-Z renters who treat the blue-box store like a tech bodega.

Specs that matter (and some that don’t)

• Single-port 20 W USB-C Power Delivery
• Foldable prongs for travel
• Recycled-polycarbonate housing, 90% post-consumer
• White or charcoal; no assembly—or hex key—required

"At four bucks you don’t feel guilty buying one for the office, the car, and your mother-in-law," says Marisol Huerta, a graduate student who queued outside the Brooklyn branch at opening. "Apple trained us to think a charger should cost like a steak dinner. Ikea just reminded us it’s a side of fries."

What you give up for the price

Lab tests by Swedish tech site M3 show the Ikea brick hitting 19.8 W—close to its rated output—but voltage sag climbs above five percent when the room tops 30 °C. Translation: fine for overnight phone top-ups, slower for a sweat-soaked summer commute. There’s also no cable in the box, a cost-cutting echo of Apple’s 2020 move.

Competitors feel the squeeze

Amazon’s bestselling Anker 20 W Nano retails for $18.99; Apple’s own 20 W model hovers at $19. Even Chinese budget stalwart Ugreen’s 20 W charger lists at $9.99. Ikea’s entry resets the floor, forcing rivals to bundle cables, extend warranties, or race to 30 W speeds.

Bottom line

Power is becoming the new lightbulb—cheap, ubiquitous, unexciting until it isn’t. With its four-dollar dongle, Ikea isn’t trying to win the spec sheet; it’s trying to win the junk drawer. And in a year when inflation headlines dominate, every saved cent is a tiny Scandinavian victory.