Sonos is a US manufacturer of wireless audio devices and active speakers, i.e. speaker boxes. The individual Sonos devices can be networked with each other via WLAN, so that music or news etc. can be played back in several rooms at the same time, for example. Another advantage over the competition is that the Sonos products are open to almost all major streaming services. But what is the story behind Sonos?
Founded in 2002 by John MacFarlane, Craig Shelburne, Tom Cullen and Trung Mai, Sonos is headquartered in Santa Barbara, California, about halfway between San Francisco and Los Angeles. On the one hand, the brand name is a clever made-up word, but on the other hand it also has a direct connection to the properties of the products. From the Latin “Sonus”, which means “sound”, MacFarlane and Co. made “Sonos” without further ado. Which was doubly clever. On the one hand, “Sonos” is a so-called palindrome, a word that reads the same forwards and backwards. And on the other hand, the special typography of “Sonos” made it possible to design a logo that can still be read and retains its meaning even if you turn it 180 degrees. This is then called an ambigram.
Cooperation with Amazon, Ikea and Audi
In 2017, CEO and founder MacFarlane left the company and Patrick Spence, previously MacFarlane’s right-hand man, took over as CEO. Since then, the brand has been able to significantly increase its level of awareness with some clever cooperations. In October 2017, for example, it was announced that Amazon’s voice assistant would open its own devices so that users can now control Sonos speakers via Alexa. Cooperation was also agreed with other voice assistance systems active on the market.
Just under two months later, in December 2017, the next PR coup followed. The company announced that they want to develop a room-spanning smart home speaker system together with the Swedish furniture manufacturer Ikea. While the Swedes were responsible for the design, Sonos took care of the technology. With its own speaker model “Sonos Play: 1”, the company provided the platform for the new “Symfonisk” family from Ikea, which was finally unveiled in Milan in 2019.
While one model is kept in the no-frills, traditional loudspeaker box design – the box can be set up both vertically and horizontally and can therefore also be used as a shelf or, for example, a bedside table – the second combines the loudspeaker with a (bedside) table lamp. In 2021, Sonos also presented a picture frame with a built-in speaker under the name “Symfonisk picture frame with Wi-Fi speaker”.
Also last year it was announced that Sonos also wanted to work with Audi in the future. Customers can now order Sonos audio systems as special accessories for a range of models from the premium car manufacturer.
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Good quality, questionable handling of customers
Sonos is accepted as a provider of high-quality hi-fi solutions on the market, but the brand’s corporate policy in dealing with user data and its sales behavior has damaged it so much in recent years. The marketing department was repeatedly exposed to harsh criticism. For example, Sonos also uses its own software for its own products. However, if the buyer is not willing to register as a user with Sonos, he will have no access to future software updates – which, according to Sonos itself, could of course lead to functional restrictions.
In 2018, they went one step further and put the proverbial pistol on the customer’s chest. Only those who were willing to register with Sonos could continue to use products they had already purchased. Conversely: no customer/user account, no Sonos sound (more). Gritting their teeth, some people may have finally managed to register. However, it should come as no surprise that this behavior caused veritable damage to the company’s image.
Nevertheless, just a year later, the company caused further resentment. The fact that Sonos is constantly expanding the range of functions of its products initially benefits the customer. However, these extensions also change the requirements placed on the hardware. However, this in turn places limits on the continuous updating of the software at some point. The corresponding device can then no longer benefit from potential extensions.
Trouble with “recycling mode”
The Sonos solution: At the end of 2019, an exchange program for older devices was introduced, which guaranteed the buyer of a new Sonos product a discount of 30 percent. Prerequisite for this discount: the customer had to put his old device into the so-called “recycling mode”. But that had absolutely nothing to do with sustainable recycling. On the contrary, this meant nothing other than the permanent and thus final blocking of the old device. Both further use and second-hand resale were no longer possible, and the device, which still functioned perfectly, was a case for the electronic scrap container.
Read more: Sonos intentionally renders working speakers unusable
Sonos was again severely criticized, so that only a few weeks later, in January 2020, they gave in or probably had to give in. CEO Spence now guaranteed the customer that devices would continue to be supplied with updates until May of the same year, thus ensuring continued operation. However, it is still not possible to use older Sonos products with younger ones with correspondingly newer software in one and the same network. One step forward and half a step back, if you will. In the end, however, Sonos obviously realized that constant skirmishes with customers and the trade press are anything but conducive to one’s own image. Again just a few weeks later, in March 2020, it was decided to finally abolish the compulsory blocking of devices in the exchange program.
“Sonos Voice Control” is to become the “Alexa” of the speaker provider
And meanwhile one produces also clearly product-oriented and thus positive news again. It has been known since the beginning of May that Sonos is planning its own language assistant for its networks. “Sonos Voice Control” is the name of the speaker producer’s “Alexa”. Of course, the question arises as to why Sonos is becoming active here, after all they have been working properly with Amazon’s “Alexa” for years. The answer to this question is: Sonos’ voice assistant works completely offline. Everything that users say to the speakers is processed in the devices, and the answer is generated there and not by a server in the cloud.
However, there are two catches. On the one hand, the Sonos voice assistant is only competent when it comes to music. On the other hand, if you want to lower the blinds, start the coffee machine or know when Robert Lewandowski last scored for Bayern Munich, you have to go back to “Alexa”, “Siri” or whatever their name is. The incompetence in these specialist areas is due to the logically very limited computing power of the Sonos devices. The other tick: If “Sonos Voice Control” will raise its voice for the first time on June 1, 2022, it will initially only be in the USA. When you will get an answer to “Hey Sonos” in German is still open.