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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Show previous replies

jgatie

IMO, till there is stability again in the world, Sonos needs to announce that it is calling off this event - if needed, Covid also gives them a good cover to do this. Nothing will change for all Sonos users in the visible medium term, and there will be one less anxiety for everyone touched by Sonos to deal with at a time everyone has enough on their plate.

Of course it is looking likely that this decision will be taken for Sonos by external events anyway.

Good grief, are you seriously saying Sonos’ future business plans are having some effect on the anxiety levels felt during a viral pandemic?

Get a grip Kumar, for you seem to be no longer in touch with reality. I say this as one who has called you friend in the past; I’m seriously worried about you.

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Kumar

I’m seriously worried about you.

LOL. Don’t you have enough and far more important things to worry about?

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Daniel88

Avid Contributor I

I wake up everyday worried, worried that my neighbours finally breaks down my door with torches demanding me to lower down my Music, what a wonderful feeling

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attacama40

Headliner I

I wake up everyday worried, worried that my neighbours finally breaks down my door with torches demanding me to lower down my Music, what a wonderful feeling

Quality response … my neighbour (many years ago) came round and did the exact same thing to find me lying flat on the floor listening to Out of Control - Chemical Brothers and Comfortably Numb on with bass high.

He didn’t get it and left saying to my wife …. “he’s nuts he is” ….. My finest moment! :-)

Needless to say we actually get on rather well of course.

It is quite a moment Daniel. Enjoy.

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jgatie

I’m seriously worried about you.

LOL. Don’t you have enough and far more important things to worry about?

One thing for sure, the world certainly has far more important things to worry about. But I’m serious. Anybody mentioning Sonos’ actions in the same stratosphere as the Coronavirus pandemic needs to check themselves. They are too far down the rabbit hole. Far too down.

Think about it Kumar, you used to make fun of people who did this type of thing. Now you are one.

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Kumar

@jgatie : quite honestly, it does not bother me that you think as you do, nor does it surprise me. And the point I made, which is different from the one you claim I am making, is moot anyway, because the tsunami will wash away Sonos business plans as it will that of every other company, making all plans obsolete overnight, regardless of what you or I think.

The world needs a miracle, and I would be over the moon if the external environment allowed Sonos to continue with the little tsunami of their own making in May, but at this time, I am a pessimist.

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jgatie

Sigh.

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Johnny47

Lyricist II

I don’t understand why there isn’t an option to have legacy products upgraded even at the customers cost? Surely there must be a way and it wouldn’t cost as much as, and create waste like the trade-up program.

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DK_Madsen

Enthusiast II

You got to feel for Spence - he ended up setting the company stock price trends pointing in the wrong direction and then the tsunami arrived. At its present price of USD 8 or thereabouts, it probably is close to a compelling buy now for someone that can leverage its position. The coming days may see this become even more compelling if the price keeps falling…

Every treatise on intelligent investing says that when fear rules the markets, it is the time for canny buyers.

And if no one snaps it up in the coming days, there is a message in that for the user base.

Just checked the Sonos stock prices and saw that they had fallen to about USD 8

The Corona pandemic could not have come at a worse time for them.

Currently hugely unpopular due to the controversy of their tradeup program, stocks were alreadt dropping like at stone because of this, before the outbreak.

Now the stock is plummeting even more, and no one is currently thinking about buying sonos products (For some reason toilet paper and hand sanitizer )

On top of that, the pandemic will almost certainly mean that there will be a recession in the economy and maybe even a new economic crisis like in 2008.

Such a crisis will cost lots of people their job, and unemployed people, looking to adjust their budget to their new financial income, are most likely to cut away “nice to have” and Sonos IS in the “Expensive, nice to have” category.

It could turn out to be the perfect storm for Sonos.

Maybe no one will get any new firmware upgrades, no matter if you have modern or legacy products….If the stock drops even more and no one is buying their products.

What a way to go from “Beloved products that people gladly pay a premium for” to “Controversial and overpriced product, that far to few people will buy, ending in bankrupcy“ in less than a year.

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Ken_Griffiths