End of Software Updates for Legacy Products

So after only 2 years Sonos determines my not cheap equipment is obsolete????

And the offer to replace with a paltry 30% discount????

I dont think so.....blue bye Sonos....plenty of high end competitors out there that sound just as good if not better than your equipment that will continue to work just fine for years!

Congratulations....you just lost one faithful customer and I hope they follow me in droves for such a blatant disregard for your loyal customer base that got you to where you are today.

Appalling!!!!

no guarantees they will be useable for local music for years to come. If Sonos update the controller software requiring the latest OS version and do not support legacy core functionality in all future app updates they effectively kill all legacy hardware. 

I just bought a playbar last week, the rest of my ecosystem is about 9 now legacy sonos products, I will return my playbar for a refund and it will be the last sonos device bought by me.

I will be ditching Sonos. After spending so much money on their speakers to find out that they won’t be supported anymore. How dare they! It’s unethical! 

I have just posted a one * review on John Lewis website against a Sonos product stating that although the products are excellent, Sonos have just announced the obsolescence of a product which was on sale as late as late 2015.  Avoid Sonos purchases at all costs.

Suggest each of you writes similar reviews on major retailers’ sites to cause severe commercial damage to the Sonos brand (which is in effect self-inflicted)

A very useful post for folks here, and my chosen way forward, come May. I refuse to panic just because of this bombshell, for my 3 legacy zones out of 6 system.

@Mike_123 : the Connect for sure will keep working for you as it is now, you are not on the Sonos upgrade express since Aug 18 so it is immune to these antics. Have you seen any issues with any streaming services from then till now?

I  am extremely upset that the Sonos system that I have owned for 6 years is now viewed as legacy and will not receive updates and will impact my listening experience. If I  would have know of this potential risk I  wouldn’t have bought the system. It seems like bad business to have consumers pay thousands of dollars and then trick them into upgrading their system and spending more money when this issue can happen again in a few years where the updated components are again viewed as legacy. I  realize that there is a trade in program, but 30% off new equipment is NOT enough. I believe that SONOS has to more and either fix this storage problem or allow consumers to swap out there old equipment for new for free.

Well Done Sonos,

Having been investing in your kit since 2010

I’m now left with ‘essentially’ a £1000 bill for support. (cost of replacement kit -30%)

I understand that some equipment may not meet the standards for the ‘New’ features, but as a premium manufacturer, I believe you should be treating your loyal customers, in a better way.

Another unhappy customer...

How do get around Sonos updating their apps and controller software?

A suggestion for a path forward…

Sonos pioneered using true peer-to-peer networking to dynamically assemble audio products into a cluster that could be sensibly controlled and platooned (>1 speaker with same program).

Sonos clearly knows how to have 2 or more separate clusters, running different software.  I could have a legacy cluster, with platooning available only among products in the legacy platoon.  Its software updates could be limited to be sure that the old services (e.g., playing from libraries on PCs, streaming from URLs speaking today’s protocols) remain.

And concurrently, I could have a “modern” cluster, with platooning only among modern products.  This cluster would benefit from new services.

The UI apps for legacy and modern that run on PCs, Macs, smart phones could be separated (need not be, but if Sonos is concerned about reducing support costs, they could be); perhaps named “Sonos” and “Sonold”.

This scheme should be affordable to Sonos, and would relieve many of us having “a house full of trash” as one commenter said.  Until now, I have been a proud and appreciative owner of Sonos products.  Now I seriously wonder whether the company has my investment at heart, whether with my legacy products or with the modern products (a 30% discount is not nearly enough to counter the pain).

I didn't add that via an edit, it was a new reply to a different poster. 

That’s basically what Sonos is planning, as far as we can tell from the limited information they’re disclosing.

+1 Don’t forget the app stores!!

That will actually become very easy now! Just make sure that at least one legacy product is powered on and visible in the controller app at all times. Then Sonos will not apply any update to any part of your system. 

Best Sonos.
Regarding Sono's decision to stop upgrading new products if retaining older products.

When I invested in Sono's relatively expensive products, I did so in the belief that it was a good long-term investment. But apparently not.

It is not sustainable from a financial point of view to change, or as you call it upgrading products that work well. It is also not good from an environmental perspective to change functioning products. I'm convinced Sonos wants to work with a sustainable environment.

I see no need to replace my Connect Amp which works just fine for us. I can accept that my Connect Amp will not be updated with new software as long as it works as it does now. But I can't accept that my new products like Move and Playbar wouldn't be updated because I keep Connect AMP!

Sonos, do it again and do it right. Rethink and change the product update so that it can be performed on individual products. Sono's behavior towards its customers is not acceptable.

Kent Johansson

After spending thousands of dollars - and I just recently purchased a product in the past year and a half to find out they will become obsolete.  Shame on you Sonos!  I will be ditching your product after May.  Why would I waste my money on a company that is ripping off consumers.  Funny - they think a 30% discount will keep customers coming back. Well they are wrong. There are other competitors that know how to make quality wireless speakers and not have the customers pay thousand of dollars to do so. Good bye Sonos - I used to love your product.  Hopefully this decision will financially disrupt your company.   This will be a good case study for an MBA class.. How Sonos tanked their business, and couldn’t recover. 

I’m skeptical that this is really necessary. Sonos is in trouble. They are losing market share to Google and Amazon and sued Google on January 7th for patent infringement which will be a very expensive case for them win or lose. This hair-brained trade-up scheme to boost revenues won’t work - it will erode customer loyalty and discourage new customers who are afraid to invest in a time-bomb to an extent that will not be offset by new trade-up revenue. They are just shooting themselves in the foot. 

If it was really an issue of memory, why not offer a “lite” version of the software/updates without all the bloatware that would continue to work on all products new and old? 

I’ve been a Sonos customer for 8 years and was on the verge of expanding my system throughout the house. Now I will seriously reconsider spending any more money on something that will have to be thrown in the garbage in a few years just for a “software update” (or to finance the next lawsuit)

@Ryan S is this getting fixed, the trade up page doesn’t work either

eg https://www.sonos.com/myaccount/user/offers/tradeup/

This is perfect - how did you do this please? 

I am baffled at the (small, but significant) number of posters who are actually considering this trade up deal in the light of this news.

“Thank-you sir, please may I have another?”

Grow some balls, people. It’s not unreasonable to expect your existing devices to continue to work!

After spending thousands of dollars on Sonos products, and I just purchased 2 more products within the past 18 months – to find out that they will be obsolete.  Shame on you Sonos! This is a big consumer rip off.  I will be ditching your system after May.  It’s pathetic how you think giving a consumer a 30% discount will retain customers.  Well it won’t because there are other competitors that can make quality wireless speakers for less.  I used to love your product – but no more.   I hope that this poor business decision impacts your company financially, because it has impacted me financially. To invest all of this money to find out that I have a system that  is useless.  This decision will be a good case study for an MBA class – How Sonos bankrupted their company and it couldn’t recover.

well I got the e-mail today informing me that 2 of my products will be affected.

What a con!! I do like SONOS but this is nothing short of being held to ransom. When I bought into the Sonos system I was not made aware that they would be changing to this kind of practice, if I was aware at the time I certainly would not have chosen it. I have invested quite a bit on their products and was considering another purchase but not anymore. I will not be replacing ANY of my SONOS products, in fact I will be replacing my setup with an alternitive to SONOS. 

not a happy customer.

I am extremely annoyed with the Sonos approach to upgrading some components.

I have emailed Sonos CEO Patrick Spence direct his email available on the Sonos web site is patrick.spence@sonos.com

Below is my email:

Dear Patrick,

Please register my extreme annoyance at the email I received today to notify me of the Sonos approach to several of your products including (relevant to me) the Play 5 Gen 1 of which I have two.

My  annoyance is for the following reasons:

1) I am being held to ransom by Sonos – basically if I don’t pay Sonos AUD1000 for 2 x Play 5 Gen2 THEN  Sonos will stop all updates to the other five “Modern” speakers in my system and (quote) “Over time, this is likely to disrupt access to services and overall functionality”

The Sonos “Update” option will mean my two Play 5 Gen2 have cost me AUD2315 (The initial AUD1315 for the Gen1 Play 5’s, that  Sonos will “brick”, plus the AUD1000 update cost). This will make them extremely expensive speakers.

2) You have only given me 4 months’ notice of this. Such a short notice sets a new low standard for notifications for ceasing software update support. If the short notification does not have a sinister motive then it is reflecting some extremely short planning horizons in Sonos.

3) Conscious of the current world concerns for a Climate Change Crisis I have been making extra efforts to minimise my carbon footprint. You are forcing me to scrap two perfectly functioning speakers adding to the crisis. 

I know innovation has been a strong point for Sonos and I understand the need for change and also that 5 years is a long time in the technology scene.

My annoyance is in the way Sonos is doing it.

Two suggestions that would make the pain more palatable are:

1) Provide a motherboard upgrade at lower cost and retain the remainder of the robust and elegant Play 5 Gen1.  What is needed ? Some more memory, a new processor? Surely this will cost less than the $1,000  and be less wasteful than the notified approach.

2) The 30% trade-in is too low. To begin with it is not really 30% since I can buy a Play 5 Gen2 for $645 which is already $104 or 13.9% less than you list price. So really you are offering 22.5% credit on the $645 going price. I think for two I could do a better price.

So increase your credit for updating and start at 50% and up of you list price of $749

I believe that how you handle this will be a determinant in the future of Sonos.

Regards,

“Name”

My current system: 2 x Play5 Gen1, 2 x Play 3, 2 x Sonos One, and 1 x Boost (recently updated from Bridge at a cost of $104) – Total investment  $3050

$3050

I have not found this planning disclosed anywhere. All I can find published are options for either running the entire system - fully legacy or mixed - in the last released legacy version mode, or upgrading legacy products to new replacements, to keep getting upgrades after May 2020.

Where is the additional information you refer to?

I’m just disappointed that the solution is upgrade and brick your device it is now at the end of its life. I mean these are top notch speakers you sell, they are quality products and the best you can do is recycle them. 

As you state 92% of your products are still in use, and that's because speakers don’t get damaged, they sit and do their job so I suspect all the returns will be working speakers. I’m disappointed that you haven’t been more inventive in finding somewhere else for your old speakers. if you collected them all and then repackaged them as a separate non voice controlled system but as an interlinked system then I bet you could supply them to hospitals or schools in developing country's and do something good.

people would be less frustrated if it didn’t feel like such a waste. 

I’m really worried about the future proofing of my current Sonos system (playbar and some play 1’s) will they stop interfacing?!