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.

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.

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. 

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

I upgraded and recycled 6 ZP100 Amps to the latest Amp late December before Christmas.

5 Sonos Amps and a new Move. To the tune of over 2K even with the discount.

I am now told that the 3 remaining Connect:Amps and 2 Play5 Gen1s are on the list.

I dont expect the legacy items to update any further but I do expect them to be able to play and group with my newer models. From the wording I keep seeing I am getting very leary.

Several of the responses say they will work as they do now but never quite say they will group/play with the newer hardware.

Just realized my 45 day return is coming up in about 7 days. Really thinking hard about returning and just keeping everything legacy because of this.

So Sonos, you are about to lose a recent 6 item purchase and any future purchases.

If i dont get a response this week making me feel assured my total system will work the way it does today you may be losing a existing sell and any future sales.

Your wording is always legacy will work the same and new ones update. But never the total system will work together with grouping and streaming. I dont want two systems! That's not why I have Sonos. I have it for Whole Home Audio! over 15 zones, 20 devices.

I would be upgrading in the future just like i did at Christmas but not under this kind of vision.

Sonos SELL premium products. If they are designed to be replaced after 5 to 10 years, then they’re not premium. Might as well as spend a lot less to get the same functionality and replace every 5 to 10 years. If I was buying 1 product, fine, but most buy 5, 10, 20 or more units. You can’t expect customers to suddenly replace half of their large investments in just a few months and at a paltry 30% discount. The products have gone up in price and the dollar has become very strong. Two factors they probably didn’t consider or more worringly, they can’t adapt to lower their prices or offer larger discounts.

They obviously expected a backlash, but I think even this has surprised them. The damage is done. Only a solution that allows the current system to coexist with the newer products while allowing grouping as it was designed, will repair some of the damage. We don’t need the latest technology to run on legacy equipment. We want it to work as is. If it doesn’t in the future, they should either offer a very large discount OR offer a Sonos box that allows the legacy to work in a mixed system. However, when the next batch like Play 1 & 3’s go into legacy, they must have a solution for that. So plan ahead and tell us how you’re going to deal with this soon. For a technology company with very intelligent and technical people to NOT have a proposed solution in the works before making an announcement on legacy equipment, IS beyond a joke. 

The Board must either think we’re naive or were totally unprepared. Based on the statement from the CEO, it seems both. They need to clarify with DETAIL within a few weeks, otherwise, the longer it goes on, the harder it will hit their bottom line and as a public company, that will get a reaction both in the share price and from their investors.

Sonos units AREN’T computers with speakers added! They are foremost speakers with technology to stream music and radio. We don’t use them to browse the internet, buy clothes, send email. We just need the basics AS designed.

Sonos are at a crossroads and if they make the wrong turn, they’ll suffer and at best they’ll be bought out. To try and make customers think this is just about technology moving forward, is the kind of thing politicians do. We know it’s not the complete truth and there are underlying reasons why this is being done. But, imho, you’ve messed up big time. You’ve alienated your core customer base who also act as ambassadors for your brand and help sell new units. Now that has stopped!!

Read, listen, think and then do the RIGHT thing. You have a great chance to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat.

Sonos has placed so much doubt in me as a customer, I’m not sure if I trust them anymore. Can the company survive on this new approach? So maybe buying more Sonos in the future will be a bad investment? As for most of us, this has opened our eyes and we’re looking at what the market is offering and in 2020, there are a lot more options than when I jumped in to Sonos and at a price that is very attractive.

One more chance Sonos, just one more and you have to hit the nail on the head. It’s amazing how one week can totally change one’s perspective on a company that was viewed so positively and had a brand loyalty that others would die for. 

You know what to do. So as Nike says. JUST DO IT!

Totally correct, Sonos is very ambigous about what they mean by ‘continue to operate’.  They also make ambiguous statements about segregating the network.   But this misses the point, if I have to segregate my network then these aren’t working as a group, and they aren’t fit for the use they were sold as.    If the network must segregate, then it’s broken, and these devices are now junk.   “Whole Home Audio” can not be a segregated network.