Homepod vs Sonos

Well let me ask this. As a Sonos user do so feel the existential crisis? From what you are saying - Sonos is becoming less "needed" based own the recent offerings of competitors and the evolution of the market.

As a Sonos user, I see no need to replace my 5 zone system because it hasn't stopped being as useful as it has been at any time in the past seven years even while the use of my NAS has significantly reduced and because I believe that voice control even at its best, at this time is still a gimmick. But this stance from the installed base does not help Sonos at all.

But if I were buying just now instead of in 2011, Sonos would no longer be the automatic choice. That however is a problem for Sonos - if many new buyers think like this.

Further to the above, I will toss out just one of the many alternatives to Sonos that are now viable with streaming services, Alexa, stable broadband, and cheap Android devices all easily available.
A Dot, wired to a pro audio studio monitor pair from someone like JBL. Voice controlled music via the Dot and where one wants to play any other service even with broadband down, music from that service stored offline in the dedicated to audio Android, streamed to the Dot via Bluetooth and thence to the active speaker pair.
All for less than USD 500, with sound quality not too far behind a 5 pair that costs double that.
That is one example of the competition that Sonos faces.

Agreed. But that is par for the course in developing and growing markets. Sonos should not have expected to experience the level of competition it experienced in 2011 in 2018. It is an entirely different scenario now. As you allude to what really were your choices in 2011? So you are in the market and must respond to its evolution. That's just how it is. I think though that they are doing a reasonable job given the behemoths they are up against.

I like you have my doubts that voice control is the game changer it is touted to be - but that may be due to that technology still being in its relative infancy. In any event I have experimented with it through integrating two echo dots into my Sonos experience. So far my experience is just ok. Good for churning out some quick genre or mood music/playlists. But I am a deep music explorer and the app will always be my mainstay.

Further to the above, I will toss out just one of the many alternatives to Sonos that are now viable with streaming services, Alexa, stable broadband, and cheap Android devices all easily available.
A Dot, wired to a pro audio studio monitor pair from someone like JBL. Voice controlled music via the Dot and where one wants to play any other service even with broadband down, music from that service stored offline in the dedicated to audio Android, streamed to the Dot via Bluetooth and thence to the active speaker pair.
All for less than USD 500, with sound quality not too far behind a 5 pair that costs double that.
That is one example of the competition that Sonos faces.

To be honest a person who will do this is not really the crowd that Sonos is after. I think if we were able to see the profile of the typical Sonos user you may realize this. That's the other thing - Sonos is not a mass product. It's a bit niched to more sophisticated music lovers hence there has been a strong correlation between Sonos and Apple users - HomePod debates aside.

I think though that they are doing a reasonable job given the behemoths they are up against.

There is just no way to know either way; they don't publish quarterly financials since they are not a quoted company.

And Apple HomePod is an arrow fired across their bows as well - even if it today only makes sense to those that want voice controlled Apple Music. Till now, those people that wanted it had no way to get it and may well have chosen Sonos. And it is not just voice, Sonos still has not been able to offer its customers the use of the Apple Music native app, that will work flawlessly on HomePod now.

The Sonos problem is that their strongholds are being chipped away from many directions in many places. It is going to take something extraordinarily good from them to come through this unscathed.

To be honest a person who will do this is not really the crowd that Sonos is after. I think if we were able to see the profile of the typical Sonos user you may realize this.
The JBLs are used by music listeners just as sophisticated as Sonos users.
But I gave you just one example. Another example at another end is the guy who gets a Dot, and uses it with a USD 150 price point Bluetooth speaker. Maybe this isn't the crowd as well? But the problem is that if you - as in Sonos - keeps talking that way for every non Sonos alternative, the crowd that is left for them keeps shrinking.

You are ignoring the fact that the emergence of smart speakers has greatly increased the total addressable market (TAM) for Sonos. Many more people are buying speakers.

Consider two scenarios: a TAM of $100M of which Sonos’s share is a stable 50%, and a TAM of $1B of which Sonos has a stable 25%. Which is better for Sonos?

That is a good point.

The only thing we know for sure on that subject is that soon after smart speakers were launched, Sonos ran into trouble, laid off people and changed CEOs.

How they are now doing is something we can only speculate about. Or wait, for time to tell us.

I do see that their USPs have been under attack as the tech and markets changed around these, and in a crowded smart speaker market that will have large players in it, a new compelling USP isn't clearly to be seen till now.

It is going to take something extraordinarily good from them to come through this unscathed.

And that's what I am getting from you - you seem to be expecting some sort of doomsday for Sonos out of this competitive space. That's where we differ - I have no such expectation. Yes affected by competition but they will survive just fine based on what I see of their competitive moves to date. You think Sonos will stand still while Apple and others add features and new products???

Just my view.