The two companies have a multiyear partnership to sell LED bulbs through Ikea stores starting in Europe, Lemnis Lighting CEO Warner Philips said today. The partnership was first reported by trade publication LEDs Magazine.

The collaboration is designed to make normally pricey LED bulbs appealing to consumers. In Europe the price target with tax is about 10 euros, or less than $14, for a 400 lumen lamp, which gives about the same light as a 45-watt incandescent. A 25-watt replacement will cost with tax about 7 euros, or less than $10.

The Pharox bulbs for Ikea will have relatively high light quality with a color rendering index (CRI) over 85 and a warm color at 2,700 Kelvin, Warner confirmed.

"This is going to be massive.... This is the sort of partnership that will help move markets," he said. "We need partnerships to bring down price by selling through innovative channels...and we need volume to bring the price down to get decent margins."

Lemnis Pharox bulbs are designed to work between 10 and 20 years, depending on how often they are used, and to be energy efficient. For example, the Pharox 400-lumen bulb consumes 8 watts, versus 45 watts for an incandescent.

Company Chief Technology Officer Martijn Dekker told LEDs Magazine that the two companies have created a "virtual vertically integrated company" where they collaborate on production, which will be done in India, and share project risk.

Ikea in January of this year stopped sales of incandescent lights in its U.S. stores in advance of a mandate to phase out incandescents starting next year. The company sells halogens that meet new efficient standards, compact florescent lamps, and a line of fixtures that use LEDs.

Through the Lemnis Lighting partnership, Ikea in Europe will now sell general-purpose, omnidirectional bulbs with the traditional screw-in bottom.

Lemnis Lighting is working on a line of brighter Pharox bulbs, which will be EnergyStar compliant, Philips said. The company's goal is to have a product line of about 20 bulbs that will are suitable to replace about 80 percent of the lights in a home, he said.