Contributor I

Sonos goes bankrupt! What then?

Forum|Forum|10 years ago
June 20, 2016
37 replies
8444 views

I'm looking at the possibility of setting up a Sonos surround system upstairs and downstairs as well as Play:5's for music in different areas of the house. This is a lot of money. My concern these days with technology is that it seems to have a shelf life of max 5 years and then it is considered throw away. You used to be able to buy a expensive set of speakers that would keep their quality sound for 20 years. To prove this, all you have to do is go to any high end stereo store that sells old high end systems. Amazing sound!

I'm in the financial industry and I've learned over the years that even the good companies don't always last. Their products though should still be usable. What I would like to know, if Sonos, for whatever reason, goes bankrupt. What is the implication for my system? I know that there would no longer be any updates for the software, but would the system still function as it did at the moment that Sonos no longer existed?

I tried searching this on these forums and I was quite surprised to not find an answer to this.

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Ryan S

Retired Sonos Staff

The OP has an excellent point but SONOS lack of an official reply is sad and maybe telling.

This isn't really the sort of thread that we tend to give much of an "official reply" to because it's more of a thought experiment. If the company does wind up in this sort of situation, we'd do everything in our power to keep your systems playing for as long as possible. That might mean releasing a more open source update, or perhaps having another company step in. I can't speak to what would happen with any specifics, but in 15 years we continue to be pushing forward, and we're at a time now with an even better opportunity ahead than ever before.

If you've decided to look elsewhere, we wish you the best and hope you're happy where you land. There are a lot of really exciting plans over here and perhaps our paths will cross again.

Mark good posts by pressing the like button, and select the best answer on questions you've asked to help others find solutions.

kurtatx

Trending Lyricist I

There is no way a brand as strong as Sonos just goes away. If they struggled to sell, a company like Apple would buy it.

Sonos already seems like a good match for Apple, anyway. High quality, easy to setup, and innovative.

Before I get flamed, this is not what I want to happen, I'm saying this is what could happen.

"Radio should not be warm milk; it should be moonshine" - Dave Grohl

A

alberto98

Lyricist III

So you are selling Sonos, the market leader, to buy a multi-room audio system from a company who is on their third version of a multi-room audio system after failing spectacularly with the last two?

Good purchasing strategy. Very logical. :?

Sonos don't release sales figures.

What we do get is information from retailers who sell Sonos product and we know that Sonos were the only people doing multi-room audio back when business was booming for Sonos, being the only fish in a small pond was very profitable.

Since wireless technology has become more commonplace and consumer demand for wireless multi-room audio has become more popular, other companies have come on-board which has eaten heavily into Sonos' profits. Amazon and Google are predicted almost universally to be the key players in multi-room audio over the next decade.

And that's why they have been letting staff go and is why people have concerns over the future of the company.

A

alberto98

Lyricist III

So you are selling Sonos, the market leader, to buy a multi-room audio system from a company who is on their third version of a multi-room audio system after failing spectacularly with the last two?

Good purchasing strategy. Very logical. :?

Sonos don't release sales figures.

What we do get is information from retailers who sell Sonos product and we know that Sonos were the only people doing multi-room audio back when business was booming for Sonos, being the only fish in a small pond was very profitable.

Since wireless technology has become more commonplace and consumer demand for wireless multi-room audio has become more popular, other companies have come on-board which has eaten heavily into Sonos' profits. Amazon and Google are predicted almost universally to be the key players in multi-room audio over the next decade.

And that's why they have been letting staff go and is why people have concerns over the future of the company.

But as others have said, it won't disappear - if the owners decided to sell there are many businesses that would buy it - apple, google, amazon etc

K

King Daddio

Lyricist I

The Home Pod launch makes this topic extremely relevant. I just started building out my sonos system, as much as I like it I'm now concerned about the longevity of sonos.

jgatie

YouThe Home Pod launch makes this topic extremely relevant. I just started building out my sonos system, as much as I like it I'm now concerned about the longevity of sonos.

You could literally cut and paste the posts after the release of the original Airplay, add a '2', and you couldn't distinguish them from the posts of today. Sonos not only survived the imminent demise forecast back then, they went on to become the second largest speaker supplier in the world. Pay no attention to brand new posters shilling Apple products and predicting the doom of Sonos. Their track record for this kind of thing is not great at all.

Cazualchatter

Enthusiast I

I'm in the financial industry.......

Then you should be familiar with the Frank-Dodd based living will for banks...

No such thing exists for any consumer industry .. we will live in a fast moving world.

Music + Movies on 2x Play 1s + Sub + Playbar. Amazon Echo Dot + Google Home Mini. Beautiful impulsive music.

controlav

Lead Maestro

Lets say, God Forbid, it happened: Players would still play. Music services would still service. Apart from device-update, Sonos don't have a critical cloud component in order for its products to work. It would be harder to add a [used] device to an existing configuration (as its firmware might require an update to match the existing system), but that's it.

Compare this to, say, Amazon for example: Alexa is a silent black cylinder without a live cloud.

Author of the leading independent Sonos apps for Android, MacOS, iOS, Windows and Xbox.

C

Clip2

Enthusiast I

Live WILD! Take a risk! Oh wait, you’d rather be cautious and careful? Perhaps a transistor radio and listen happily to am radio. Apologies, don’t really mean to offend you.
But just to reassure you, I was on the SONOS wagon almost from the start and still have an original Connect amp, two Connects, I gave my original Play 5 to my sister and it is still going strong. These are nearly 13 years old now. I also have 6 Play 1s, a Play 3, two Play 5 Gen2, and two bridges. I have never had a single problem or issue with ANY of them. Sorry, but I can’t rate them high enough. If they go under, who cares? They’ll still keep on working I’m sure.

rais28

Contributor I

I sold my Sonos and went to Musicast. Buy some good quality speakers or even an active speaker set and drive them with the MC amp or pre amp. Yamaha is a save company and if for some reason their MC service is discontinued you still have your high quality speakers.

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