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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eBay £1.00...bit pricey me thinks...
You can use it to get 30% off a new one lol
Won’t be buying another Sonos product, will be buying from a competitor…..
What did you think was Ryan meant when he said “Where possible, we will work to maintain the existing experience and conduct bug fixes on the legacy devices where the computing hardware will allow. “ It sounds like you’re getting what you’re asking for.
Maybe it’s about commitment, being forthright and direct. “Where Possible” and “might not” do not provide the warm fuzzies for continued investment into the products, not for me. It’s hard to stand on the sidelines and hope the Company does what’s best in the interest of their Customers. if nothing else, this event was poorly executed and communicated. Or it was planned, maybe they want to take the stock back private by driving it down.
But Ryan and Sonos can’t predict what bug fixes will be required in the future and whether they are fixable within the available hardware. Ryan didn’t say it was a matter of making a moral decision about fixing a bug, but physical limitations.
As far as the event being poorly executed, I agree. I can think of a couple different thinks I would have done differently, but hind sight is 20.20. And I can’t see Sonos tanking their own stock in order to go private.
Maybe, but KKR is the largest holder of Sonos stock (+25% or 21.8 million shares). Remember “Barbarians at the Gate”? I know, just trying to figure out why when there may not be an answer. I know have to eat some Crow for promoting product so much.
One thing is that at the moment global trend is for more eco-friendly products. How crazy does it sound that for example 3 years after buying the product you will get email that your still almost new (3 years is nothing for a speaker!) speaker will not work 100% anymore and its only matter of time when its totally useless and you have the most expensive paper weight..
The world is banning plastic bags, light bulbs, disposable cups/plates if those are plastic etc..
But it's totally okay in year 2020 sell very expensive disposable speakers?
This is getting intresting... Class action coming???
I did like the products and I have always been an ambassador for Sonos. Unfortunately with this announcement that will no longer be the case. I have some of your 'legacy products' which are excellent and will be so for many years but eventually Sonos will ensure that they are redundant. I like many others will not purchase any new Sonos kit but will look to a market which will react to this company's unbelievable announcement. Sonos you have shot yourself in the foot.
Just making sure I post in angry thread 2.0. This is still BS, and I’m still done with this platform.
Hehe :)
Why can’t a boost-like device act as the processor for a room? All of a sudden these will be to old to play sound? Really seems convenient that most of your devices don’t include aux input or Bluetooth. Almost like you planned for this all along. At least when my original play:5 received true play, I was more than pleased to receive a feature I would’ve expected on newer tech but now our “old” speakers will end up in a landfill. Isn’t there a simplified experience that can be created? I would be fine with certain zones having only options for Spotify and Sonos Radio. I don’t need 20 streaming services on my older devices.
So despite all the rage yesterday from probably thousands of people (and rightly so) is your response basically -
sonos are still going ahead with this.
Sonos are clarifying that we don’t care about customers opinions.
we will eventually cause your old products to probably not work.
We want you to buy new ones please to replace them.
then we’ll do it again in the future.
Have I missed anything people?
Bravo Sonos - great response. Let me Clarify that I’ll never buy your equipment again.
So accurate!
I’m absolutely gobsmacked, that they’ve done nothing, except asking Ryan to try and answer a few questions from a technical angle.
No apology, no announcement, nothing … despite all the negative backlash on here and in the media as a whole.
Well done Sonos, you’ve successfully alienated your most loyal fans. And they will most certainly avoid both your 30% upgrade deal, and any future involvement.
For the record the clarifications have clarified nothing. Those of us with “legacy” devices may might probably not be able to do things or maybe we can. What does that clarify.
Horrible way to treat your customers.
Amazing really.
Hard to believe one of the most respected companies has overnight become one of the most despised by its customers.
How much do you care about eventually bricking people’s Equipment Sonos?
We don’t care
next to nothing.
I have five figures worth of investment in Sonos products, and that does not include those I have given others as gifts. I’m done. You have lost a loyal customer with this. Not only am I no longer buying or gifting your products, I am no longer suggesting that my friends or family have anything to do with your company. This is a terrible decision and your company deserves all of the ill will that is coming your way.
Your fanbase on Reddit - which historically LOVES sonos - has turned on you:
What did you think was Ryan meant when he said “Where possible, we will work to maintain the existing experience and conduct bug fixes on the legacy devices where the computing hardware will allow. “ It sounds like you’re getting what you’re asking for.
Maybe it’s about commitment, being forthright and direct. “Where Possible” and “might not” do not provide the warm fuzzies for continued investment into the products, not for me. It’s hard to stand on the sidelines and hope the Company does what’s best in the interest of their Customers. if nothing else, this event was poorly executed and communicated. Or it was planned, maybe they want to take the stock back private by driving it down.
But Ryan and Sonos can’t predict what bug fixes will be required in the future and whether they are fixable within the available hardware. Ryan didn’t say it was a matter of making a moral decision about fixing a bug, but physical limitations.
As far as the event being poorly executed, I agree. I can think of a couple different thinks I would have done differently, but hind sight is 20.20. And I can’t see Sonos tanking their own stock in order to go private.
Maybe, but KKR is the largest holder of Sonos stock (+25% or 21.8 million shares). Remember “Barbarians at the Gate”? I know, just trying to figure out why when there may not be an answer. I know have to eat some Crow for promoting product so much.
It is still very early and there is a lot of confusion and misconception about what is actually happening and what the actual effect is going to be. People are understandable angry right now, but when it dies down a bit, look at Sonos options, look at the options that other companies provide and their support history, things may look a little different.
It’s also entirely possible that Sonos will have good news in the future in the form of products or features that draws a lot of people in, despite the current bad news. From a stockholder standpoint, a successful lawsuit against Google could be very good….but getting off track.
Won’t be buying another Sonos product, will be buying from a competitor…..
Which one? Squeezebox? Bose (in their fourth iteration so far, with scant support for their legacy products)? Denon (another on at least their second gen, again with scant support)?
Your Sonos legacy products will continue to work fine with local sources, which is what they were originally intended for. Not much Sonos or any other vendor can do about the changing requirements of the online music providers, and their huge demands for local resources. Computer-based systems like Sonos are generally obsolete in 3-5 years. Sonos has supported their legacy hardware for FAR longer than any competitor I can think of...
I am dumfounded! I spent £3000+ on products after reading how well Sonos had backed up their product. Well yesterday that went out of the window. Write to the CEO, Post on social media and drive the Sonos share price down. That is the only way the greedy will climb down . Faced with losing their not so hard earned they will reverse this marketing ploy and ensure we get the service we deserve. Perhaps someone can develop a crack for the system?
This is a question for Sonos employees. The question is, literally, “How do you sleep at night?”
I don’t mean, what do you listen to, or whether you use a CPAP. I mean, how do you sleep at night, knowing that you are screwing over thousands and thousands of people who have invested thousands of dollars into your system?
I have been a loyal Sonos Customer. I have 1 play 5 2 play 1’s and a beam. I was looking to purchase 2 more play 1’s. Not any more. I am very angry with the news that sons play 5 gen 1 will no longer be supported.
I wonder if Sonos would be so kind to buy back all my sonos equipment? Sonos?
Closing the previous threat won’t stop people commenting on this disgusting move by sonos!
What if Tesla stopped software support for there cars but instead of just stopping the updates they continued with them and by doing so they made the car unusable?
Well that’s what Sonos is doing - why not just stop further updates for older products and make a new updated app for new products, this giving people the choice of using what they currently have, or updating to a new whizz bang system?
Wow, ain´t this just the complete shootshow.
Thanks a bunch you greedy holes.
Stuff starting to appear on youtube now.
I had to add a comment, as the zdnet man on the video infuriated me, with the comment about ‘having a good run’
Well, this is still not even close to a satisfactory response - and closing a thread filled with dissent from your oldest, loyalest, most outspoken customers? Cowardly.
You've done us all so very wrong, and to do what? Save some money on coding to maintain services should a streaming service provider update theirs? Force us to upgrade perfectly functional equipment or face the eventual bricking of our systems?
I do not believe that a bit of clever code cannot defeat this planned obsolescence. You are even being given brilliant ideas from those willing to forgive this travesty, like a lower cost hardware gateway to manage these “memory deficiencies” that somehow affect the play 5 with the same (or was it more?) amount of memory as the play 1. Are you saving news of its demise until May?
This was a foolish decision and whoever thought it would save you money clearly did not have the foresight this betrayal of trust would have with us. If you decide to push forward, I like many others, will become brand antagonists, no longer willing to spread positive word of mouth for you, instead warning others of spending thousands of dollars only to be abandoned and then blackmailed into upgrading in a few years. This will definitely save you money, save you from making money.
Despicable. Greedy. Dishonest. Wasteful. Best to remove the page on your website claiming the opposite of what you've become.
This is the email I sent to your CEO, and I think everyone here should do the same.
I am adding my name to the rapidly growing list of severely disappointed long-time SONOS supporters.
While I currently only have a Play 5 Gen 1 going extinct, I have now been given reason to believe that ALL of my equipment, including a Playbar, Sub, and numerous Play 1’s, will eventually be treated the same way. That, dear SONOS, is unacceptable.
The callous approach to this maneuver also does not bode well for the future of your ecosystem.
For starters, I will not be purchasing any more of your speakers. Why would I spend my hard earned money on something when you might just happen to be feeling cute and brick it at any given time? I don’t know. I wouldn't. And I won't.
I am actually glad you revealed yourself before I purchased the Move, Beam, and additional 1s I was currently considering. They are now off the table entirely. Was that worth trying to get me to upgrade a single speaker at a 30% discount? Make sure you tell your investors what you’ve caused.
I encourage you to take a good hard look at your customers’ response to thisDECISION (not NECESSITY), and take any and all steps necessary to ensure you recover the fumble. Otherwise, old friend, we are through.
Today, you have betrayed your most loyal customers.
Sonos (NASDAQ:SONO) continues to feel stock price and social media pressure from yesterday's announcement that the company would no longer support some models released between 2006 and 2009.
The support ends in May.
The company informed customers they could either continue to use the products without updates or purchase a new Sonos product at a 30% discount.
Statement from Sonos: "As this is the first time we’ve had to end software updates for any music player, we recognize this is new for Sonos owners, just as it is for Sonos. We’ve now come to the point where our oldest products have been stretched to their technical limits in terms of memory and processing power."
Sonos shares are down 1.2% to $14.63.
Like to see Sonos at $5 after what they have done!
Won’t be buying another Sonos product, will be buying from a competitor…..
Which one? Squeezebox? Bose (in their fourth iteration so far, with scant support for their legacy products)? Denon (another on at least their second gen, again with scant support)?
Your Sonos legacy products will continue to work fine with local sources, which is what they were originally intended for. Not much Sonos or any other vendor can do about the changing requirements of the online music providers, and their huge demands for local resources. Computer-based systems like Sonos are generally obsolete in 3-5 years. Sonos has supported their legacy hardware for FAR longer than any competitor I can think of...
You are a SONOS employee in disguise and I claim my $5.
Think you are missing the point bud.
Won’t be buying another Sonos product, will be buying from a competitor…..
Which one? Squeezebox? Bose (in their fourth iteration so far, with scant support for their legacy products)? Denon (another on at least their second gen, again with scant support)?
Your Sonos legacy products will continue to work fine with local sources, which is what they were originally intended for. Not much Sonos or any other vendor can do about the changing requirements of the online music providers, and their huge demands for local resources. Computer-based systems like Sonos are generally obsolete in 3-5 years. Sonos has supported their legacy hardware for FAR longer than any competitor I can think of...
You miss the point entirely. Sonos are late to the party time and time again and there should be a fix for this issue
