End of Software Updates for Legacy Products

SONOS, needs to reconsider this policy. I have invested a lot of money in my SONOS system and will NOT be purchasing additional equipment based on this announcement. I can understand some of the original SONOS hardware but the PLAY 5 is not that old.

They'll be sure to let you know ...... In May, maybe.

I never would have thought consumer electronics could make me this angry. Quite the feat. Well played, Sonos. 
 

I understand that technology changes and requires updates. However, when an individual invests in products, and even though they may choose not to be on “the cutting edge” enlisting in the latest and the greatest, I suspect most of us expect to receive the continued service and support we signed up for. After dropping nearly $1,500 on Sonos products (bridge, connect, dac and cables) to stream music through my 2 channel system it will be difficult to spend additional money on a company that appears to care little about supporting loyal customers. When I purchased Sonos equipment I believed I was receiving a product and service that would continue to be provided and supported. Let me be clear, I neither require nor expect anything in adddition to what I received when I first started streaming music through Sonos gear. I simply expect to receive the continued service that I believed I invested in. Perhaps, Sonos needs to take a lesson from companies that truly stand behind their products (ie., Bryston, Patagonia, Apple, etc.) and provide support not in years, but decades. Perhaps, even though I have enjoyed the accessibility and convenience of streaming music, I will have to cancel my streaming account and go back to listening to my music entirely on cd’s and vinyl!

Just give us a separate “legacy sonos app” ( IE. the current one) this will give us your customers the option to upgrade or not ~ our choice not something that’s thrust upon us out of the blue!

Good! Maybe he will deliver our disgust with this to his bosses, but sadly very unlikely. 

I too agree with the statement: “ONE DAY THIS WILL BECOME A HARVARD BUSINESS SCHOOL CASE STUDY ON WHAT NOT TO DO”.

I too am one of the VERY EARLY adopters who bought loads of Sonos stuff as far back as 2005/2006 and have been adding ever since. I have been singing the praises of Sonos every year since then to family and friends. 

Today is the start of a new era (not in a good way) for the Sonos company and one that will surely go down in history as the day a company with a loyal and committed following lost its customer base in one fell swoop !!!!  I, like thousands of other former Sonos “fans”, am completely dismayed and pissed off by the email announcement telling me my system needs attention.

The email subject should have read:  WARNING - NOTIFICATION OF COLLAPSE IN VALUE OF YOUR INVESTMENT IN SONOS AUDIO EQUIPMENT.

Finally, 30% trade up allowance ??? You’re now asking me to spend even more money?????

Welcome to the world of the publicly floated company.

Oh dear Sonos. I think you may have just made one of the biggest mistakes ever. Add me to the list of not going to buy any more sonos equipment and you had better not accidently brick what i do have. Disgruntled. 

Surge of Connects, Play5 gen1, and Connect Amps have hit EBAY.

Agreed, time to dust off the old Pioneer Receiver and just get a streamer for it, oh wait, I am not sure if my Pioneer receiver is still supported, LOL!

Sent my own email.  Patiently standing by. 

Didn't sonos effectively blame Brexit for a 25% price increase on their products in 2017. 

And all they can offer affected customers to this announcement is 30% .

How long before you drop support for the Playbar, Sub and Play 1s I have or should I sell them all now? 

I was going to invest in some more speakers over the next few years, making more of my rooms stereo, but following today's announcement I'm done buying your speakers. And I won't be recommending you to anyone else. 

As an owner of a 8 Connect:Amp system powering speakers throughout my home, I am at a loss.

It will cost me $455 x 8 or $3500 to update my system to the now supported version - but to what avail? to buy me another 5 or 10 years of support?  I’m sorry but I am NOT feeling ANY incentive to do this over again to have the same result occur in the future.

I’m sorry but I don’t get it. You should able to develop a product that continues to be supported with new features only available on newer units. 

:-(

Sorry can I ask those of you asking Sonos to reverse their decision, would you trust them and invest in more kit after this? 
my view with 9 speakers, a sub and a connect is not a hope as they die I’ll be spending elsewhere. 

Dear Sonos - you are a disappointment.

Firstly to the environment - are we expected to just throw away our perfectly functional expensive systems? You say “recycle” but that is in reality a joke. And to make the announcement during the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting Davos 2020, where environmental issues are dominating the agenda!

Secondly where’s the loyalty from you? I invested greatly in Sonos a few years a go and cannot believe, because Sonos control my system, they are blackmailing me into changing it. 

Thirdly, I purchased a Play:5 and Play:3 at the same time - their design is similar - i.e. from the same period, and I suspect connection circuitry, (besides the amp) is identical. BUT the Play:3 is not on the list of items about to become redundant. Why? Because the Play:3 is still "current". So it is absolute rubbish when Sonos say they are forced to discontinue support because of hardware limitations. It is purely to force us loyal, legacy users to upgrade, which is outrageous when so many bought into he system. I love my two "Connect Amps", two "Connect" devices, "Play:1”, “Play:3" and "Play:5" speakers. They all work, and whilst I realise they will continue to function beyond May 2020, it is such a worry that you have admitted you can shut them down remotely, which is inevitable, I am sure. 

Interestingly I have two identical "Connect" devices, purchased at the same time. One is shown as okay, "modern device", the other as "End of software updates" - why? They are the same unit., registered at the same time. Probably a bug in the system, but again proves this is all for profit.

Longtime customer who finds this outrageous. I’ve used Sonos for years and been happy enough to recommend you to others. Never again if this goes forward. I won’t upgrade just on principle - your efforts to hold my entire system hostage in order to force equipment upgrades are irritating in the extreme. 

If this goes forward, you’ve lost me as a customer. There’s no coming back from this. 

Goodbye Sonos, unless you continue supporting older units alongside newer ones.

Who will buy your products knowing they are signing on to an endless upgrade cycle?

I think that’s part of the problem. They have hardly any meaningful updates that incentivise customers to upgrade hardware anymore. The core of the product offering has been frozen in time, with most of the work going into streaming support for niche services that most people will never use. Airplay I am sure certainly drove some sales, but I can’t think of a lot else. Maybe the smart assistant stuff is way bigger than I imagine, because it doesn’t interest me in the slightest?

Thanks.

It is not about the expectation of a reply as much as it is about the consumer expressing themselves.

So my Play 5 is being bricked and soon my 3 and 1’s will go the way of the dodo. 30% discount with a circa 30% price increase since I bought the Gen 1 isn’t great and the Gen 2 has been out for a few years.

This is like offering customers a rental ad infinitum.

I think like the rest of aggrieved customers who’ve spent a lot of money, you need to be transparent and provide your road map with an approximate timeline and shelf life of each product.

I won’t be upgrading - will just kill it off progressively and replace with good separates and a music streamer which will provide what Sonos does without being inextricably linked to the speakers. This way the tech shelf life exposure will only be exposed to the streaming device.

I appreciate that nothing lasts forever but when you’ve bought six of them it’s a bitter pill to swallow.

No, they didn’t. It has been apparent for some time that there was a problem with their initial strategy of having everything on each player, and there has been plenty of time for them to come up with alternative approaches that didn’t obsolete older equipment.

There is no reason that you couldn’t have a more powerful ‘controller’that co-ordinated all the other kit, including the limited older kit as well as the newer kit, but it would have meant a total redesign of the way that the system works. Considering the amount of money that Sonos have made, this would have been a much more forward thinking and customer friendly approach that would have generated even more customer loyalty. It would have shown that Sonos were a company worth paying the extra for.

A very good point! How can a speaker that came out during the same period continue to be updated and the other one not be! 

Hmmm, I’ve been a customer since 2006, and appreciate that technology changes. I’d take issue with the statement that such product longevity is unheard of in consumer electronics, I have a 40 year old hifi system that still sounds better than a great many more recent products, and it works flawlessly. Still, I work in the IT space and understand that hardware changes rapidly, as does the software to take advantage of the hardware improvements.

In my case, I have 8 zones, and 5 of those have products that are at “end of life”. To replace all those units (2 connect, 2 amps, 1 Play 5)  would cost a considerable amount of money and it’s simply not feasible at the moment. I have no issue with software being kept at its current state, but am concerned that streaming services will cease to work. My ideal outcome would be that basic streaming connectivity (with Spotify etc) and local library access, continue to be supported on older products, and any other functionality can be left to expire as it becomes out of date. For Sonos, the upside is that much of the legacy equipment is used by the early adopters and enthusiasts and they’d make an informed decision to stick with the model I’ve mentioned. That shouldn’t result in mass support queries as changes occur.

The alternative is to provide deeper discounts based on system size and length of ownership.

This is something of a watershed moment for Sonos, handle it badly and it could damage the company’s reputation permanently.

Regards
Chris

Here's a thought. Sonos has a high net worth customer base. How about we use our financial muscle to make them change this decision?

Ditch Sonos shares ( which are already crashing)

Perhaps then they will realise what loyalty means.