well said . I also will not be upgrading and NOT be buying any other Sonos products 

I also will be refraining from purchasing any new Sonos products.  How long before my (multiple) PLAY:1s and Sub are flagged as “legacy” products?

That's the point

I'm scared to purchase any more kit as it will eventually all become obsolete

I bet Sonos have lost millions of old and new customers for this crass decision

Thanks for sharing your feedback, everyone. We’re listening and answering what questions we can in the main thread. Let’s try to keep the discussion for this topic in one place.

We’re committed to supporting players for 5 years after we stop selling them and have a track record of supporting them for far longer than that. The Connect:Amps which are moving to legacy in May came out in 2010, and the newer version of them from 2015 is still considered a modern unit. These older devices just don’t have the needed hardware to keep up with the demands of the software coming later this year.

As to the Play:1 and Sub you mentioned, the Sub is still sold today and the Play:1 was only just recently no longer sold. These devices do have the needed hardware specs for what’s currently planned and don’t have any listed legacy flag for them right now.

It’s also worth noting that if you have legacy devices, they’ll keep on working as they currently do, just without updates. Eventually some features that are reliant on connected services will stop working and they won’tbe able to get new features.

@Ryan S ”Play:1 was only just recently no longer sold.” - in light of what just happened, you are in effect saying that I can expect my Play 1 to be bricked in five years. Your products have gone from investment pieces to perishable goods. You cannot charge the same price for that. 

I appreciate the sentiment KinPin. What I’m saying is that you should expect that Play:1 to get software updates for at least five years after when we last sold it, which is our commitment for supporting players.

Also, that legacy devices, even after they’ve stopped getting software updates, will continue to work as mentioned:
 

Sonos have made it clear that they will only support their products for 5 years after they stop selling them.  BIG MISTAKE.  This could be akin to the Ratner Jewelry debarkle and will be studied in business schools for many years to come as how destroy a loyal customer base with one simple email….

Hadn’t heard the Ratner story before, very interesting, and good food for thought for Sonos. Here is a summary: Ratner Story

Totally unsustainable policy in every sense of the phrase. I was a Sonos evangelist but as of yesterday became the opposite. Feel betrayed

Just want to add my voice to the righteous anger already on display. I invested a lot of money in my “legacy” system thinking it was a quality investment. I am keenly watching what happens next and waiting to see if the Sonos brand becomes toxic.

A good lesson on how to trash a brand in a week. Legally no company is formed to help its customers, all are formed for the benefit of its share owners, but do u really think your shareholders will thank you for trashing their brand?

just received my " 30% off special deal " e-mail from Sonos ...
in the past year iv spent £2000 / £2500 grand on their expensive kit for all over my house
Why ? cause it worked straight out of the box with no complications for me or my kids ...
Not ever was i told at the point of sale that my kit would self break and be worthless as a working hi-fi
What this tells me is ... i need to quickly sell all my kit on the "bay" and try and recover some of my investment
Do not EVER buy any of their kit ever again as all the new kit will eventually go "bricked " once again
What a greedy stupid decision from Sonos ... just to make even more money in my opinion

PS

Just looked on the "bay" and all the second hand prices have collapsed !

update

What a massive storm on the internet ... so much anger ... could be the makings of a horror movie !
I wish i was a fly on the Sonos boardroom wall ... what a self inflicted total nightmare .
But seriously ...
It doesn't matter what Sonos does or says now ... the Sonos brand is now very toxic if not dead !
Even if they roll back everything to "as was" I for one will not be buying any more of their kit.
I have lost all trust in the product and the company. I realise if it goes bust nothing will work
but i consider my existing kit as worthless now anyway ... even if i bought new ... it will eventually go "Legacy"
 
SONOS = LEGACY = SCRAP . Lets call it what it really is !

This whole Sonos debacle has made me realise that any Internet connected hardware from any company is time limited.
Why spend top money on the best products { which Sonos was } when a cheaper alternative is available
When it goes "Legacy" i wont lose so much of my hard earned money if i buy cheaper ...

PS

I hope that if it does go bust all the hard working innocent staff get re-employed in any Sonos alternative company .
 
They are the ones who will really be paying the price for this crazy stupid mess ....

Yours

A Totally 100% angry pissed off disillusioned never ever again former Sonos advocate
 

Hi Fobskid, I started this discussion without knowing how to use the site but it would seem there’s a ‘main’ discussion for this topic with 85000+ hits at: https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/end-of-software-support-clarifications-6835969

It won’t make you feel any better but you’ll see you’re in good company! ...anyhow well said - I share your pain...

Hi

posted this reply on that forum 

its now being held back by the monitor for posting approval !!!!!

surprise surprise 

fobskid

fed on bullshi*e kept in the dark

This is the key part of Ryan’s answer for me. A legacy ZP100, ZP120 or Connect:Amp could have its hardware upgraded. 
 

That’s an option Sonos needs to look at. If they started to offer it now, they’d increase the chances of having the bulk of the uptake done and returned by May. 
 

If it means that upgraded kit won’t have mics and so won’t be Alexa/whatever compliant, I bet a huge proportion of customers would not be remotely concerned. 

i agree

why not design an adapter or “bridge” so that the old will interface with the new and continue as a whole system

id buy it ….i say again …. id buy it !!!!

ps

I don't give hoot about all the future advance updates ,

Don't want them at the expense of my working system

Very informative.

If you don't care about future updates, what's the problem?  Your system will be frozen at the current software and you can use it just like you do today.  You'll even get bug fixes and security patches.  You just won't get any new features.

The problem is no one trusts Sonos PR spinning their own announcement about ditching support for their original and best customers.

OMG, just adding my voice. You really blew it. Now I am stuck with a useless ZP90 even after you said you are no longer doing this. Sonos owes me an explanation and compensation.

Shouldn’t one wait until they actually break their word before going off half cocked? 

The Brand is dead. Worst strategic mistake made by a growth tech. Every new purchase will now be BOSE. I can integrate through alexa. Just sadly am not able to pair brands. The CEO needs to do considerably more and i can only assume he and the board are just STUPID to not think this will affect loyalty and SALES. Anyone thinking of buying a new Sonos will be thinking ‘wait my product is redundant in 5 years and not future proof’

One can only hope that the cash hungry board, through their lack of care for loyal customers will be hit hard where it hurts in their dividends and share price. Because this is the only way these types will learn.

Sonos Board have you not heard of ‘competition, consulting customers, consumer choice’ ? wake up and smell the smart speaker market!

They already did! 

In reality, they should sell the speakers with a subscription. For example, buy a speaker for $500 with a 3 year software subscription, and then you have to pay monthly or buy a new one to keep your subs going (the updates). This would have been much more honest than saying the speakers "are old" and can't support playing music, which is a lie - they can keep them going basically for as long as they want to. 

But then, that would require guts to actually say it - and a lot more competence to implement it. Would I pay, most likely yes - since the expectations would be CLEAR. 

Believe me, I never comment online, I find it absurd most of the time - but Sonos botched this. They built a customer base with certain expectations, and they are choosing a dishonest way to change (blame technology, instead of admitting they need more cash).

Bose is actually on it’s second line of smart speakers.  They decided not to bother trying to integrate their legacy and modern products together, so they just ended the first line...no new functionality, and started a new one.    

Of course the CEO knew this would not go over well.  It was even mentioned in the investors report. 

It is a minumum of 5 years after the device has stopped production. There is some future proofing, as the legacy have gotten many features that were not available originally.  And honestly, anyone buying a smart speaker, really any device that is software base, should consider the fact that it will not last forever.

I don’t think that will do customers any good.

As it stands now, you have a minimum of 5 years without a subscription.  I’m not seeing how paying full price for a speaker (assuming you’re talking about the play:5) with a subscription on top of that would be more appealing to customers.  If there was just a rental/subscription fee without having to buy the speaker, that would be different.   As it stands right now, if a speaker was no longer supportted after 5 years (60 months), the $500 speaker is costing about $8.33 a month...most likely cheaper.  And that really only covers the period where you are receiving regular updates, since you will receive bug fixes and such with current functionality after that period, as it stands right now.

I would not have.   Besides the fact that your plan costs more, even if it worked out to be even I would rather own then rent, so that I could then sell the unit if I no longer needed it.  Sonos has the trade in program if I prefer.  My overall costs are less than what you’re proposing.

I agree that they botched this.  It could have been presented in a much more positive manner, and I think Sonos should have let customers know this was coming a lot sooner.  But hindsight is 20/20.  I don’t believe Sonos is lying about the limits of the hardware in legacy products.