Remain seated. That awesome Ikea standing desk isn’t coming to Asia any time soon

Standing desk aficionados jumped for joy when affordable Swedish furniture retailer Ikea announced the Bekant Ergonomi sit/stand desk in September. Not only does it offer a much more aesthetically pleasing design than the unofficial Ikea standing desk hack, but it features electronic height adjustment to ensure a nice balance of both sitting and standing (since too much of either isn’t good for you). In the US, at least, the base model costs less than US$500 – significant considering electric alternatives cost around US$1,000.

Will the Bekant Ergonomi arrive in Asia in time for the holidays? Tech in Asia reached out to each of Ikea’s Asia Pacific distribution centers to find out, and unfortunately, the short answer isno – but there might be hope for an alternative.

Corinna Schuler, Ikea’s head of corporate communication for Singapore, Malaysia, and Thailand, explains that the Bekant isn’t coming to Asia, at least not any time soon.

“[We] recently heard from the design team in Sweden that the Bekant sit/stand desk is not ready to be launched in any Asia Pacific country,” Schuler says. “The Home Furnishing Business team is still looking into this matter, and needs to solve a few technical matters for our countries before we can get sales started. We have been getting a lot of media queries about this product and the team at Ikea of Sweden have promised to get back to us with a resolved date.”

The Bekant Ergonomi generated a healthy amount of buzz in western media – enough to lead to a complete sell out. Gizmodo gave it a gleaming review, noting that Ikea is experiencing product delays (links to the desk on Ikea’s US site redirect to the product line page). Perhaps those of us in Asia aren’t the only one’s who won’t be able to snag one.

Fortunately, Schuler adds a bit of holiday hope for a not-yet-announced Bekant alternative:

We expect to get another sit/stand desk, named Skarsta, to support ergonomics in the workplace. This product is less complicated – not electrical, manual height adjustable via a simple ‘winding’ technique – so hopefully it will solve the needs and wishes in our markets for a more ergonomic workplace.
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See the Bekant Ergonomi in action below: