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Ryan S
Ryan S
Retired Sonos Staff
January 22, 2020

End of Software Support - Clarifications

  • December 8, 2022 at 11:29 AM
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End of Software Support - Clarifications

We announced yesterday that some of our oldest Sonos products will be moving into a legacy mode in May of 2020. Our commitment is to support products with regular software updates for a minimum of five years after we stop selling them, and we have a track record of supporting products far longer. 

Here is some public information we’ve shared, gathered into one place to respond to some of your questions in one easy thread, so that people can find the correct information easily.

Beginning in May, software updates and new features from Sonos will only be delivered to systems with only modern products.

After May, systems that include legacy products will continue to work as before - but they will no longer receive software updates or new features. 

Sonos will work to maintain the existing experience and conduct bug fixes, but our efforts will ultimately be limited by the lack of memory and processing power of these legacy products.

We don’t expect any immediate impact to your experience, but access to services and overall functionality will eventually be disrupted, particularly as partners evolve their own services and features. 

 

Customers with both legacy and modern products have time to decide what option is best for them. You can continue to use your whole system in legacy mode - in this case, it will stop receiving updates and new features. 

You will also be able to separate your legacy products from your modern products, so that the modern products can still receive updates and new features, and legacy products can still be used separately. We’ll have more information on how to do this in May when you can take that action.

Another option available to all customers with legacy products is to take advantage of the Trade Up program, which allows you to upgrade older Sonos products to modern ones with a 30% discount. Trade Up will be open to customers at any time should they decide to upgrade. 

We recognize this is new for Sonos owners, just as it is for Sonos. We are committed to help you by making options available to you to support the best decision for your home.
 

If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate with asking.

Update 2/22: A message from our CEO

We heard you. We did not get this right from the start. My apologies for that and I wanted to personally assure you of the path forward:

First, rest assured that come May, when we end new software updates for our legacy products, they will continue to work as they do today. We are not bricking them, we are not forcing them into obsolescence, and we are not taking anything away. Many of you have invested heavily in your Sonos systems, and we intend to honor that investment for as long as possible. While legacy Sonos products won’t get new software features, we pledge to keep them updated with bug fixes and security patches for as long as possible. If we run into something core to the experience that can’t be addressed, we’ll work to offer an alternative solution and let you know about any changes you’ll see in your experience.

Secondly, we heard you on the issue of legacy products and modern products not being able to coexist in your home. We are working on a way to split your system so that modern products work together and get the latest features, while legacy products work together and remain in their current state. We’re finalizing details on this plan and will share more in the coming weeks.

While we have a lot of great products and features in the pipeline, we want our customers to upgrade to our latest and greatest products when they’re excited by what the new products offer, not because they feel forced to do so. That’s the intent of the trade up program we launched for our loyal customers.

Thank you for being a Sonos customer. Thank you for taking the time to give us your feedback. I hope that you’ll forgive our misstep, and let us earn back your trust. Without you, Sonos wouldn’t exist and we’ll work harder than ever to earn your loyalty every single day.

If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact us.

 

Patrick Spence
CEO, Sonos

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    4256 replies

    Show previous replies
    discoboy514
    Lyricist I
    January 23, 2020

    there is a lot of angry customers here, Twitter FB.  Why aren't you reassuring them? reverse your decision for the good of your company..

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      attacama40
      Headliner I
      January 23, 2020

      And still no word from Sonos to it’s listening and loyal (if highly charged) user base …….

      ‘Is there anybody out there’ ?

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        user_end_of_lifed
        Enthusiast II
        January 23, 2020

        I have approached Ikea to request a return of Symfonisk speakers purchased in December as defective. 

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          morgan4x4
          Enthusiast II
          January 23, 2020

          To administrator,

           

          I wrote an email letter to your CEO on Tuesday.  Should I expect a response, or do you not plan on replying to your customers?  As a reminder I run 26 devices in 20 or so zones.  I really want confirmation that you expect me to spend an additional $5,500 to “upgrade” 16 devices so I can get full value from the other 10.

          Thank you. 
           

          Richard
           

           

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            amun
            January 23, 2020


             

            If you have any further questions, please don’t hesitate with asking.

            Here’s a question - is it really technically infeasible/economically burdensome to continue support of legacy products? 

            It’s technically feasible but would cost Sonos more money, so they’d much rather their customers stumped up lots more money instead...

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              MySpeakersAreLeased
              Lyricist II
              January 23, 2020

              I feel sorry for the engineers (true engineers) who develop the hardware/software. I’m sure they probably suggested alternative solutions to the fat cats but were ignored. Chickens coming home to roost?

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                klatta
                Lyricist I
                January 23, 2020

                Dear oh dear oh dear!

                I only want honesty and if there are some other issues involved here then that may help us understand why SONOS may have believed there was no real choice. But otherwise it all appears to be a business trying to manipulate their slice of the market and completely misjudging. Someone (paid) has come up with this, been overly influential in getting it approved, will be overly confident that they have done the right thing or that someone else is to blame, and be looking at their next career move. I think they may have sadly begun the sinking of a very well respected and loved brand. I was influenced and was also influential in a lot of friends and associates investing (and I mean investing for long-term use) in SONOS products and know all that have commented to me so far are hugely disappointed.

                If I was offered 30% discount on my original SONOS products then I would have been happy (back then). But 30% discount on current products when it now appears that everything will have a shorter life expectancy is really not tempting. The speakers are fab and do not need replacing, why are we being asked to add to the mountains of unnecessary waste? 

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                  NB11
                  Lyricist I
                  January 23, 2020

                  SONOS: Humiliating your existing customer base and introducing us to your chief competition is a remarkable marketing strategy! 
                   

                  Sadly, Bose is not a publicly traded company. If it was, I have no doubt that the appreciation on a stock purchase now would more than amply fund my transition to its products by May.  

                  I have enjoyed my SONOS experience. I’ll be sorry to see it end, but end it will if this atrocity is not corrected.  
                   

                   

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                    ColinJones
                    Lyricist II
                    January 23, 2020

                    I’ll be leaving quietly, before my speakers become ‘legacy’ too. I’ll sell off my equipment later on in the year after the dust has settled and move on. Luckily I sold my older Sonos equipment a year or so ago, so I’ll just take this as a lesson on how a company can change completely. 

                    It was great fun while it lasted. So long and thanks for all the fish.

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                      yanikdude
                      Contributor I
                      January 23, 2020

                      it may have already been said but, once we’ve potential all invested in the “modern” eco system and our devices re supported. How long before one of those is “end of life” and becomes a “legacy” product and forced into a perpetual upgrade cycle.

                      I am not going end up in that costly cycle. Time to look for alternatives. 

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