Contributor I

Answered

How to determine the end-of-life (EOL) for each Sonos product?

Forum|Forum|6 years ago
January 22, 2020
58 replies
31304 views

Now that Sonos have announced that their products have an end-of-life (EOL), sometimes in as little as 5 years from purchase, can they please clarify their expected EOL projections for all products? Classifying them as “modern” or “legacy” does not help and is far too simplistic. Products can move status overnight without warning.

It would be useful to know that a Sonos product bought today for several hundred pounds is expected to be viable for, say, 5yrs. If Sonos wishes to be a software company, they will need to embrace a more mature approach to this issue, and offer an SLA within each product sale to set customer expectations.

For example, the Windows 10 support life-cycle has a five-year mainstream support phase that began on July 29, 2015, and a second five-year extended support phase that begins in 2020 and extends until October 2025. Microsoft manages this level of expectation management and costs a fraction of the cost of a home speaker system.

This topic has been closed for further comments. You can use the search bar to find a similar topic, or create a new one by clicking Create Topic at the top of the page.

Best answer by Ken_Griffiths

He also clarifies things here…

https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/introducing-sonos-move-brilliant-sound-anywhere-6829500/index9.html#post16395469

As I read it, Sonos look to provide customer support/updates for their products for 5 years or so after they actually stop manufacturing them and even then they will just step back to what we can perhaps now call 'legacy unsupported' mode and remain in that mode until they give up their ghost. Whilst in legacy mode the devices will simply not receive any further software updates.

As a customer myself with a large number of their (old/new) products, that all sounds very fair to me, but it’s each to their own I guess.

Ken_Griffiths

I think @Ryan S from Sonos answers your question at the start of this thread…

https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/end-of-software-support-clarifications-6835969

If that is what you were seeking here?

Hope that assists.👍

Ken_GriffithsAnswer

He also clarifies things here…

https://en.community.sonos.com/announcements-228985/introducing-sonos-move-brilliant-sound-anywhere-6829500/index9.html#post16395469

As I read it, Sonos look to provide customer support/updates for their products for 5 years or so after they actually stop manufacturing them and even then they will just step back to what we can perhaps now call 'legacy unsupported' mode and remain in that mode until they give up their ghost. Whilst in legacy mode the devices will simply not receive any further software updates.

As a customer myself with a large number of their (old/new) products, that all sounds very fair to me, but it’s each to their own I guess.

N

nickwilsdonAuthor

Contributor I

Thanks Ken, but not really, Sounds like Sonos will “support their products until they can’t”. That’s a bit of a weak answer. Imagine Windows telling people they would support their operating system until one morning they decide they just can’t. They would have trouble selling another copy of their software.

Sonos need to consider this more carefully, i.e. what upgrade path they put into their products in terms of hardware. Replaceable CPUs or RAM and larger memory (for storing code - we’re not talking about large apps here). They also need to work on a way to provide this to existing customers, so they have a respectable life-cycle on their expensive products. Sadly, it appears this thinking did not occur at an earlier stage. My question on EOL projections was to see if perhaps measures had been taken in 2015 onwards, or if we can expect to see equipment continually drift into that “legacy” group.

N

nickwilsdonAuthor

Contributor I

Ok, thanks - so Sonos products have a 5 year life-span. Good to know.

B

bonervz

Enthusiast II

Now that Sonos have announced that their products have an end-of-life (EOL), sometimes in as little as 5 years from purchase, can they please clarify their expected EOL projections for all products? Classifying them as “modern” or “legacy” does not help and is far too simplistic. Products can move status overnight without warning.

It would be useful to know that a Sonos product bought today for several hundred pounds is expected to be viable for, say, 5yrs. If Sonos wishes to be a software company, they will need to embrace a more mature approach to this issue, and offer an SLA within each product sale to set customer expectations.

For example, the Windows 10 support life-cycle has a five-year mainstream support phase that began on July 29, 2015, and a second five-year extended support phase that begins in 2020 and extends until October 2025. Microsoft manages this level of expectation management and costs a fraction of the cost of a home speaker system.

And just to drive the point home, Windows 10, released in 2015, works fine on my laptop made in 2011 that I have been using everyday since I bought it in May 2011! That is 9 years and going strong. Sonos can’t make it out of the gate

Sonos from leader to loser in 2020.

jgatie

Ok, thanks - so Sonos products have a 5 year life-span. Good to know.

Not if you buy them when they are first released, and some of the newly designated legacy units haven't been sold for over a decade. So "5 year life span" is a little disingenuous (which I assume you were shooting for).

N

nickwilsdonAuthor

Contributor I

Ok, thanks - so Sonos products have a 5 year life-span. Good to know.

Not if you buy them when they are first released, and some of the newly designated legacy units haven't been sold for over a decade. So "5 year life span" is a little disingenuous (which I assume you were shooting for).

But some of them have. But I accept your point - you *may* have a 5yr life span on the products is more accurate. Hopefully, you will have more.

Of course, Sonos also don’t seem to know if or when a product can become “legacy”, so I guess in some use-cases, we may be shooting in the wind on the 5yr aspiration 🤞🏻

jgatie

But some of them have. But I accept your point - you *may* have a 5yr life span on the products is more accurate. Hopefully, you will have more.

Of course, Sonos also don’t seem to know if or when a product can become “legacy”, so I guess in some use-cases, we may be shooting in the wind on the 5yr aspiration

Well, since we are being pedantic: If you purchase at the end if it’s manufacturing period, you *will* have a 5 year period of regular updates. After that, it will still function, but with no updates. If you purchase sooner, the lifespan is more like 8-10 years.

N

NeedSleep

Renowned Enthusiast I

Ok, thanks - so Sonos products have a 5 year life-span. Good to know.

Not if you buy them when they are first released, and some of the newly designated legacy units haven't been sold for over a decade. So "5 year life span" is a little disingenuous (which I assume you were shooting for).

But some of them have. But I accept your point - you *may* have a 5yr life span on the products is more accurate. Hopefully, you will have more.

Of course, Sonos also don’t seem to know if or when a product can become “legacy”, so I guess in some use-cases, we may be shooting in the wind on the 5yr aspiration 🤞🏻

Hopefully they will adopt a system where they publish product begin, product last sold date and end date of software support.

It would also be good to know of any hardware revisions that might impact support longevity and general specs of the devices as it relates to their internal computer. There is a big difference in memory in currently sold units, with the most expensive speaker mind bogglingly having the lowest amount of ram.

N

nickwilsdonAuthor

Contributor I

But that’s the rub isn’t it. What’s the end of the manufacturing period? Will Sonos let us know? I have some Play:1 units that have been discontinued but when was their manufacturing end date? How are the Play:1 units along that 5yr window?

This was my original point - reference again Windows 10 example, where a consumer has a clear idea of the level of support they are going to recieve or when it will now end.

I guess Sonos customers can hope they aren’t buying at the end of the manufacturing period

Show more replies

Sign up

Login to the community