Retired Sonos Staff

End of Software Updates for Legacy Products

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Please note that we’ve created a new thread with some clarifications to questions that have come up several times in this thread. Please see here to continue the discussion if you still have any questions. The information contained in this thread is outdated and may no longer be accurate.

We have some important news regarding our oldest Sonos devices shared on the Sonos Blog today. The text of that blog post is being included here for your convenience:

Starting in May 2020, some of our oldest products will no longer receive software updates or new features. We want to explain why and your options.

When we first set out almost 20 years ago to invent the technology to easily listen to any song in any room, most of the ways we listen to music today did not exist. In fact, the first Sonos products were introduced before the first iPhone was announced and when Myspace still ruled social media.

In order to invent multi-room music and smart speakers, we combined the worlds of high-fidelity audio and computing. Every Sonos product has a microprocessor, flash memory, and other hardware components typically found in computers and smartphones.

Since launching our first products, technology has advanced at an exponential rate; from streaming services and voice assistants to wireless networking and Bluetooth capabilities. Through all of this transformation, we have continued delivering new features via software updates. We’re extremely proud of the fact that we build products that last a long time, and that listeners continue to enjoy them. In fact, 92% of the products we’ve ever shipped are still in use today. That is unheard of in the world of consumer electronics. However, we’ve now come to a point where some of the oldest products have been stretched to their technical limits in terms of memory and processing power.

This coming May, these legacy products—our original Zone Players, Connect, and Connect:Amp (launched in 2006; includes versions sold until 2015), first-generation Play:5 (launched 2009), CR200 (launched 2009), and Bridge (launched 2007)—will no longer receive software updates or new features.

Today the Sonos experience relies on an interconnected ecosystem, giving you access to more than 100 streaming services, voice assistants, and control options like Apple AirPlay 2. Without new software updates, access to services and overall functionality of your sound system will eventually be disrupted, particularly as partners evolve their technology.

To help you through this transition, we’re providing two options:

Option 1: Continue using these legacy products, recognizing that your system will no longer receive software updates and new features.

Option 2: Trade up to a new Sonos product with a 30% credit for each legacy product you replace.

If you’re not sure if your products are affected, you can check in the System tab in your sonos.com-account

If you choose to participate in the trade up program, your legacy products will be put in Recycle Mode, a state that deletes personally identifiable information and prepares these products for e-recycling. Recycle Mode also protects unsuspecting people from buying legacy products that are approaching the end of their useful life and won’t provide the Sonos experience customers expect today. Recycle Mode will only apply to the legacy products listed above.

We ask that you take your legacy products to a nearby certified e-recycling facility. This is the most environmentally friendly way to recycle. That said, if there isn’t a facility in your area, we are happy to pay for you to ship your products back to Sonos for responsible recycling.

Ideally all our products would last forever, but for now we’re limited by the existing technology. Our responsibility here is threefold: build products that last a long time; continually look for ways to make our products more environmentally friendly through materials, packaging, and our supply chain and take responsibility for helping you through the transition once products near the end of their useful life.

We’ve always believed in freedom of choice, whether that means choosing a certain streaming service or way to control your listening experience. We hope the choices provided here—continuing to use these products without new software updates or trading up to our modern products—enable you to make the choice that’s right for you.

We are honored to have a place in your home and want to make sure that we help continue to bring the best experience we can, even when products reach the end of their useful life.

More information.

Please let us know if you have any questions.

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.

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kkron

Lyricist I

Sonos needs to figure this out. I have been a loyal customer for 5 years (over $4k invested) and have recommended Sonos to many of my clients and friends, even gave Sonos Ones as Christmas gifts last year. Not a good customer relations strategy, I will not purchase or recommend Sonos product until they resolve this issue....

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Wombat Legion

Lyricist II

30% doesn’t even come close to cutting it. Hell, I’d question it at 60%!

A great amp and speakers are now or will soon be, practically speaking, useless because of limited CPU and memory at the same time putting other components of the system at risk. Why would anyone spend good money after bad only to likely face this situation again and again in future? Maybe SONOS should work a replaceable system card into their speakers so users don’t have to pay for replacing entire audiophile system components, just the logic boards.

Hey Sonos, this is what the start of bankruptcy looks like. Need to get a better offer on the table, fast.

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Dave-M

Contributor I

Add my name to the list of incredibly pissed-off people.

Unlike many people in this thread, I only have 1 device (a Play:5 Gen 1) that is on the obsolete list. And it’s amazing that Sonos has supported this product as long as they have, and I don’t really have a problem with them dropping their support for it.

Unfortunately, Sonos is holding the rest of my products (Playbar, Sub, 3x One, 2x Play:1) hostage as well, since they also won’t receive any updates. What happens when Spotify tweaks their API and a Sonos update is required to keep things working? “Sorry. Give us $ for a new Play:5 and then we’ll let the rest of your system work again”.

People would absolutely lose it if Apple told customers that their 2019 iPhones and Apple Watches were being cut off from updates since they also own a 2010 iPad.

Why doesn’t Sonos do what’s its done elsewhere and “wall off features”? (The fact that my Play:5 and Play:1’s cannot do airplay does not prevent my “One”’s from using Airplay)

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JJH22

Contributor I

I have loved Sonos, I have advocated Sonos, but receiving this news that my expensive products will no longer be supported via software upgrades and an offer of only 30% discount for the latest products is beyond disappointing and it is clear that you are in business for $ only and don’t care about your customers. I should have bought better known brands when I started in 2014 with you. Instead I gave Sonos at a high price a go. You advertised: Sonos a system you can forever add to- well how can you lie like that. Shame on you Sonos. I wish I never recommended you to the 100’s of people I have. You’ve turned a Net promoter score of 10/10 into a 0/10 ex-customer for life today.

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JohnB52

Lyricist I

So if I understand this correctly - SONOS expects their customers to upgrade the hardware every time they terminate the software updates? Is SONOS going to make a habit out of this? Something is not right with their thinking there.

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gizze

Enthusiast II

Sonos has been considering this for well over a year, as this quote comes from Sonos’ November 2018 10-K filing:

We may choose to discontinue support for older versions of our products, resulting in customer dissatisfaction that could negatively affect our business and operating results. We have historically maintained, and we believe our customers have grown to expect, extensive backward compatibility for our older products and the software that supports them, allowing older products to continue to benefit from new software updates. We expect that in the near to intermediate term, this backward compatibility will no longer be practical or cost-effective, and we may decrease or discontinue service for our older products. Therefore, if we no longer provide extensive backward capability for our products, we may damage our relationship with our customers, and the value proposition of our products with existing and prospective customers may decline. We may lose existing customers if their older products cannot integrate with newer versions of our software, and this may also result in negative publicity that could adversely affect our reputation and brand loyalty and impact our ability to attract new customers or sell new products to existing customers. For these reasons, any decision to decrease or discontinue backward capability may decrease sales and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

haha so some financial analyst folks at Sonos had actually, honestly looked at how detrimental this move could be to the company and somehow someone convinced the bigwigs to do it anyway?

you could not make this shit up! I imagine Sonos offices are like an episode of the office.

Not Mr. McRae from the M3 forums?

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JohnG666

Enthusiast II

When the trade-up was announced I was in favour because I have a ZP90 that I no longer use and I thought I might trade this in for another product.

Having seen the latest news though, I’m somewhat shocked. I will potentially lose 2x ZP90s, a ZP120 which is still great sounding and in constant use and also the CR200. I ditched a CR100 the other year and that was still a good controller.

At the moment I don’t feel like giving any more money over to Sonos (even with the trade-up discounts) because I’ve lost a lot of trust in them. Who knows what will happen to my Play1 speakers in the next year etc.

I will probably keep the system as it is and not have any more updates.

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Neil McRae

Trending Lyricist I

So just checked with a lawyer friend of mine - his view, In Europe, if you bought any Sonos product in the last 6 years that is affected by this you can take it back to the original retailer and get your money back!

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NeedSleep

Renowned Enthusiast I

All my Sonos system was bought at the same time only 4 years ago. Expect play 1 x2. 2 Sonos 5 and amp would now need replacing. Extremely disappointed

Play:1s are unaffected, and if you truly only purchased 4 years ago, that would be the Connect:Amp and Play:5 Gen 2, both sold after 2015, also unaffected.

Play 5 gen2 announced September 2015 - there was some overlap with Gen1 sales/clear out so it's possible it was bought in 2016. Same with the Connect cut off, possible that the poster bought a new unit in 2016 that was on the wrong side of the 2015 cutoff.

So yeah 4 years ago is possible.

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KlingKlang81

Lyricist I

There is a word for this kind of operation: extortion.

I can either not pay and render my equipment useless or pay up to change to new equipment. This is a lousy behavior and a disgrace to the customers. You should be ashamed! We (the customers) have paid much money for our equipment and the whole time you have used them as a trojan horse to keep us hostages when least expected. You are aware that you´re still selling the affected equipment right? If you should phase a product you should announce it for a long time and stop selling at least a year ahead.

I hope you goes directly to bankruptcy (and you most certainly will because this will have a deep impact of the trust and loyalty of the customers).

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