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Ryan S
Ryan S
Retired Sonos Staff
January 22, 2020

End of Software Support - Clarifications

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

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    Jesper C
    Lyricist I
    January 22, 2020

    Sonos should sack their head of communication office. From being a recommended product  it tends to be a hated company. I already had two “obsolete” products, ie Play 5 gen 1, which plays impressive - BUT now with it’s presence will erode the performance of my whole Sonos installation. The last 2 days many Play 5 gen 1 is for sale. May I recommend that Sonos make it possible to run 2 setups in the installation; one with “obsolete” products and one with “not yet obsolute”. Else you are in troubles.

    best rgs

      BearsEars
      Lyricist II
      January 22, 2020

      More mainstream investor media picking up:

      Sonos Faces Social Media Uproar in Wake of Stopping Updates for Legacy Products; Shares Drop

      2:35 PM ET, 01/22/2020 - MT Newswires

      02:35 PM EST, 01/22/2020 (MT Newswires) -- Sonos (SONO) shares fell as much as 2% in intraday trading on Thursday after the US-based maker of multi-room audio products faced furor by its consumers on social media hours after the company said it will stop software updates for some of its legacy products.

      Consumers posted tweets using the hashtag #SonosBoycott and tagged the Santa Barbara, Calif.-based company's chief executive officer, Patrick Spence, media reports said on Thursday.

      Sonos said in a blog published on its website on Wednesday that starting May, it will no longer provide support for certain models rolled out between 2006 and 2009.

      Sonos pointed out that technology has advanced at an "exponential" rate. "The first Sonos products were introduced before the first iPhone was announced and when Myspace still ruled social media," the company said.

      The company advised customers to either move ahead with using the legacy products without fresh updates or trade up to a new Sonos product with a 30% credit for each legacy product consumers replace.

      Shares were last down 1.5%.

      Price: 14.58, Change: -0.23, Percent Change: -1.52

        Hiltonline
        Lyricist II
        January 22, 2020

        What a disgrace Sonos. You encourage me to ‘build’ my speaker network over time and then withdraw support. I WAS a huge advocate of the Brand. I’ve spent 1000s and encouraged so many friends to do the same. I now have half my Sonos system (£1200 original cost) that won’t work and I only bought it in 2014. I spent more because I trusted the quality and brand. This is not acceptable and being in tech myself, do not believe it can’t be overcome. I will NEVER buy Sonos again. I have 30 year old speakers that still work - how can £1200 worth of 6 year old speakers be out of date. You’ve killed your brand. 

          PBobUK
          Trending Lyricist I
          January 22, 2020

          Honestly think the company missed a trick.  Put out a new device, as mentioned previously, that allows legacy and modern to co-exist - people with thousands invested would pay for it - they’d grumble, but they’d pay.

           

          This move has destroyed brand confidence.  Even if they walk this back, which seems unlikely, how can we trust them?  I’m not affected extensively by this change, yet, but as I add new kit (need a new home cinema) I’m going to have to look to build something sustainable - but man do I hate wires.

            BigMoose
            Lyricist I
            January 22, 2020

            So my perfectly working Connect is now legacy and I should “upgrade” to a Port for the fantastic price of €314 for absolutely no benefit at all and not even an optical out?? If I had 300 quid to burn for no benefit to me I’m sure I could find much better uses for it. Then you brick the perfectly working Connect?

            I have a bunch of Play:1’s the first of which I got years ago and just dont trust Sonos not to announce their EOL any day now… Why would anyone buy another product that could be EOL’d with no notice at any time??

             

            I understand that I can do nothing and continue to use it but it’s made very clear that at any point it could all become useless if Spotify, Amazon, TuneIn etc decide to change an API... 

             

            Just another once loyal now very pissed off customer... 

              JAV
              Lyricist III
              January 22, 2020

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

              So sounds like you’re saying that if a third party - Apple, Amazon or whoever - changes their software you won’t update legacy products to cope? I find it very hard to believe that the “lack of memory and processing power of these legacy products” would stop you.

              THIS IS NOT COMPLETELY TRUE…  Yes, your legacy products will continue to work as before However, leaving a legacy in your system will not allow you to update any Sonos device, including currently supported devices…  There is a way to separate legacy devices from the currently supported devices but it makes no sense to do this because you will not be able to group legacy devices with currently supported devices…  In short, SONOS is now a liability component in your smart house sound solution…  For all you new users, until this is address, DO NOT take the chance as we did… let the lawyers fight it out first…  lots of us have thousands invested in this solution that until now are very expensive door jams. 

                sgh2
                Lyricist I
                January 22, 2020

                I am utterly disgusted. This means that what I have spent is going  to be an utter waste of money..  I have had all of 6.5 years out my system before you did this.i will not be upgrading or trading in and will buy no more devices from you.

                  blkmg
                  Contributor I
                  January 22, 2020

                  @PBobUK 

                  Right! Imagine "Sonos Sound Power 1" - and market it for its features and as an alternative to replacing your "old" speakers. More money, no customer trust lost. 

                   

                  It is kind of what they did with the Boost. Something I didn't know I needed, and I still bought it.

                    Brentr
                    Trending Lyricist I
                    January 22, 2020

                    4.5 years of support is not persisting Mike Groeninger.
                     

                    #boycottsonos

                      ukoberon
                      ukoberon
                      Contributor I
                      January 22, 2020

                      For Sale: 3 x play 5s, 2 x Play 3s, 2 x Play 1s, Sonos Sub, Sonos bar…… No point in continuing with Sonos system….separating out “legacy” and “non legacy until Sonos deem more cash needed” breaks the whole ecosystem of a whole home system. What an absolute terrible decision Sonos have made to turn their back on their early customers “the influencers” who have championed the brand have been dumped on by the  brand we loved. The ticking time bomb of future obsolescences will linger like a bad smell - so we never truely purchase the kit...we simply pay a premium to borrow it for an undetermined period of time which will be set at the whim of  Sonos.  Never expected Sonos UK to become the Ratners of Hi-Fi and go into self destruct.

                       

                      As others (many others) have suggested - by all means develop new features which are only available on new generations - but dont kill of systems just because they have legacy kit in place. RIP Sonos…. your Brand is on a slippery slope as you have forgotten your most valuable asset - the trust of your customers.

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