Retired Sonos Staff

End of Software Support - Clarifications

Dec 8, 2022 11:29 AM UTC
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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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Leadlag

Lyricist II

I joined Sonos in 2015 investing in a range of products and spent alot of money.

I currently now have two important products within my system that have been announced as obselete and no longer supported because of hardware issues.

I think the biggest stab in the back and it does feel like a betrayal is the way Sonos has decided to handle this and ransom people who have systems which are now effectively only as new as the oldest product in the system. One item ties the rest to it. The whole point of the system is that it can all operate together which was it's major selling point but it's either pay up or forget it.

This is a unsustainable business model and in a instant Sonos as lost creadability a will lose current and future customers especially ones that are looking to spend alot of money and build a comprehensive system through out their home.

On a personal level I will simply.refuse to put anymore money into Sonos as I have no confidence that I won't be continually having to spend money over a short 5-10 year life span to keep the system operating which is unacceptable.

Word gets around fast and anyone thinking of buying into Sonos now will look into other systems.

I for one won't be recommending friends in fact I will be warning them so they do not fall victim like the rest of us have.

I will start looking at other avenues as Sonos does no reward loyalty looks to hold you hostage.

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Adam Smith The Invisible Hand

Lyricist III

Given that Sonos already issued investor guidance months and months ago that this legacy plan was in the works, that they viewed a seriously negative reaction from loyal evangelist customers as a real risk, and that it would probably harm sales if it went as badly as they thought possible - I’m not sure why they are claiming to be caught by surprise now.

The letter doesn’t reveal much more than we already knew. There is some attempt at warm words, but there’s no meat on the bones here. I think all this will do is stoke the fire back up again.

My advice would be try and get to a place where you feel confident you have an executable and detailed plan you can sell to existing customers ASAP. Very few people are going to calm down until they see much more detail about what you intend on doing to legacy devices.

Given that they anticipated the negative response, what rationale was cited for dropping legacy equipment in the investor call?

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licenced

Avid Contributor I

This is a deal-breaker for me. Even though just a small part of my system (three ZP100) is affected, I can't rely on a system that might be obsolete from one day to another.

Already sold the ZP100:s and have started the migration to Yamaha Musiccast instead.

// Anders

I would be very interested in reading your thoughts on the musiccast system and how it compares

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J

jwinther

Lyricist III

This is a deal-breaker for me. Even though just a small part of my system (three ZP100) is affected, I can't rely on a system that might be obsolete from one day to another.

Already sold the ZP100:s and have started the migration to Yamaha Musiccast instead.

// Anders

I would be very interested in reading your thoughts on the musiccast system and how it compares

Me too - I have myself bought one of them (to arrive tomorrow, with a little luck) but would be interested in hearing about multi-room and connecting bluetooth speakers and other things that I cannot easily try out with the sole WXC-50 device I get.

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“This is a chance now to come up with a system that doesn’t cause massive planetary damage in exchange for disposable stuff,” Proctor said. (https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/3a8dpn/sonos-makes-it-clear-you-no-longer-own-the-things-you-buy)

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ndrux

Lyricist I

This is my first time to comment on ANYTHING on a blog ever!

Just want to say “well done” Sonos for owning your mistake and trying to make it right. Admitting you were wrong is so rare, and those of us who love and enjoy your products appreciate it.

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K

kassey22000

Enthusiast II

Dear Patrick,

I completely agree with all the sentiments expressed above and in the media. This is a move that clearly demonstrates arrogance, hubris, and a complete disregard for the customers who have adopted your products, and for the friends, partners and dealers who have advocated for Sonos as a trusted brand. That trust is gone, and it was your direct action that killed it.

I’ve spent several thousand dollars on Sonos hardware, and I’ve advocated it to countless friends and customers for years, and in one selfish swoop, you’ve damaged an entire trust ecosystem, never mind making us look like chumps.

Business books are filled with stories like this… brands that became great by making a product that the market wanted, then failing spectacularly by believing that they could milk and abuse those customers and they’d still keep coming back. They don’t. You have unlimited chances to build customer trust, and one chance to destroy it.

And please don’t insult the collective intelligence of those who were smart enough to have picked your product in the first place. We understood the product’s value then, and we could afford to pay the premium for it. We know enough to understand that this isn’t about technological limitations, but about greed and stupendous insensitivity to your market - us. This is a music streamer, not an augmented reality gaming processor.

We can only hope that the Sonos board and its investors will hear and understand the reaction to this and respond by reversing course.

You’re hearing the initial fallout now from those who are plugged-in and paying attention. The fallout will continue, and become a much bigger crescendo as the broader public (your market) finds out and becomes as pissed-off as we are. Brands are built on great customer experiences… not this.

Regards,

Andy

THIS ^^^^^ BRAVO!

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blkmg

Contributor I

No split systems. Please.

You did it right with the AirPlay integration. I don't get why can't it be done this way for new features.

New speakers do new crazy stuff, old speakers just play sound like a speaker is supposed to.

Removing basic functionality to add less basic stuff makes no sense.

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Sparkyboots

Enthusiast I

This is my first time to comment on ANYTHING on a blog ever!

Just want to say “well done” Sonos for owning your mistake and trying to make it right. Admitting you were wrong is so rare, and those of us who love and enjoy your products appreciate it.

Are we reading the same letter? The one I read said nothing different just a shit sandwich approach to the same original statement

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robinm0

Enthusiast I

Given that Sonos already issued investor guidance months and months ago that this legacy plan was in the works, that they viewed a seriously negative reaction from loyal evangelist customers as a real risk, and that it would probably harm sales if it went as badly as they thought possible - I’m not sure why they are claiming to be caught by surprise now.

The letter doesn’t reveal much more than we already knew. There is some attempt at warm words, but there’s no meat on the bones here. I think all this will do is stoke the fire back up again.

My advice would be try and get to a place where you feel confident you have an executable and detailed plan you can sell to existing customers ASAP. Very few people are going to calm down until they see much more detail about what you intend on doing to legacy devices.

Given that they anticipated the negative response, what rationale was cited for dropping legacy equipment in the investor call?

I suspect that this level of negative response is beyond the board’s worst nightmare. It’s getting worse as it continues to spread across reviews on seller platforms. I would guess that unless the corporate call on 5 Feb goes well, Mr Spence will be working on his CV within 5 minutes of its ending. There’s also the small matter of taking on Google….

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J

John V

Enthusiast I

Dear Patrick

There is a sliver lining in this PR blunder for all your once Loyal base customers.
Now that Sonos has destroyed it Loyalty base it now gives us permission to look at other solutions that we would have ignored in the past. It also opens the door to a company like Apple or google to use their horsepower to erase Sonos off the market. Just like the Apple and Samsung did to the Blackberry.

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