Like many longtime users of Sonos products (since 2012) I guess I have acted as an ‘unpaid ambassador’ for their brand. I’m not the type to ‘boast’ about owning such a system to others, but probably at least once every couple of weeks I recommend them - usually adding the line ‘a little pricey, but worth it’.
Like many users, I received one of those 'Your system requires attention' - emails. The first had been for my various Bridges - no biggie, I traded up to a Boost. However this time Sonos Inc. decided to announce that my Connect box (bought 2013 @ USD 320, still being sold in UK by the large firm Richer Sounds) and my 2x Play:5 (‘1st Gen’, bought 2013 and 2015 @ USD 450 each) were now considered to be ‘legacy’.
Given that this effectively means that after 5 years of use of some products, I am now being advised by Sonos to return them and pay to ‘trade-up’ instead, in all honesty I can’t see myself recommending Sonos to anyone else I meet going forward.
Had Sonos been half the price to begin with, not so much a problem. But, like others, I assumed I was buying a premium product, with support to match. It doesn’t help that the 30% trade-up discount ends up being much, much less by the time you factor in price hikes/inflation in the case of the replacements.
Many extremely profitable tech firms nowadays almost seem to view the opinions of their customers as being irrelevant, which they can get away with of course if they have a near-enough monopoly on the technology - which was the case for Sonos products a few years back - not so much nowadays.
Going forward, I would be willing to continue to recommend Sonos to others (and purchase additional units when needed, either for expansion or for breakdown reasons) if Sonos actively promoted a stable experience for ‘legacy’ kit.
A user in another post has suggested this kind of thing: “Once play devices become involved, I think it's time for "Sonos Classic" version to keep those alive. Killing cr100 + cr200 is one thing, but killing play devices is another. (Paulw123 wrote:)”
I cannot ever see me wanting Alexa type functionality, I’m just happy to have my old B&O hifi going through Connect as needed, hooking the PC line-in to the Play:5, and listening to the radio via TuneIn. My demands are very few, but - thinking I was investing in a, say, 20 year solution, I was totally happy to fork out nearly USD 5,000 for my system.
Talking of Bang & Olufsen, Sonos could well go the same way - years ago I was happy to pay a premium for B&O kit which had no equal when it came to design - they sort of had a monopoly too, I guess.
Fast forward to now, and as the share price tanks and the company heads for bankruptcy, B&O executives are beginning to realise that charging 2-3x the going rate for kit often made in China and surrounded by much improved designs elsewhere is no longer attractive to customers. And again, their hard core of loyal (or obsessive) fans are calling it a day and heading off to buy cheaper but well-designed kit elsewhere.
Apart from their once fairly unique wireless technology, the USP (old term, still relevant) for Sonos was ‘quality, reliability and support. If they continue to offer that, then they will continue to have an income stream from loyal customers. Charging high prices then telling people their kit is not really usable after 5 years is going to do nothing for the brand.
A ‘Sonos Classic’ strategy, whereby a stable software platform is guaranteed for ‘legacy’ kit (with understandably no new functionality) would do a lot to keep users loyal to Sonos, and to keep acting as unpaid ambassadors. Finance types with their heads buried in Excel and with one eye on the share price probably won’t get it - but I suspect anyone with a long-term view and understanding of the brand will.
Here’s hoping.
