Sonos to Dramatically Expand Its Product Offerings in 2024

Last week, smart speaker maker Sonos reported that it earned a net loss of $9 million on revenues of $305.1 million in the quarter ending September 30, 2023. Worse, all of fiscal 2023 was a step backward for the firm, which earned a net income of $121.4 million on revenues of $1.655 billion over the previous four quarters. Those figures represent drops of 29 percent and 5.5 percent year-over-year (YOY).

Sonos reached some meaningful milestones during the year—a record 3.05 products per Sonos household and its highest market share in the U.S. since 2019 among them—and it released some exciting upgrades like the Era 100 and Era 300, Move 2, and Sub Mini smart speakers. But the firm admitted that it was experiencing “a down part of the business cycle when it comes to home audio,” and that fiscal 2024 will continue to see “weak consumer demand” in this market.

But Sonos also hinted at a new strategy for the coming year, the start of a “multi-year product cycle which will demonstrate the payoff of the R&D investments [its] made” and will include “a major product in a new multi-billion dollar category that will complement [its] current offerings, excite customers, and drive immediate revenue.”

Now we know more: A new report in Bloomberg that cites multiple sources sheds more light on these plans, and it includes a surprisingly long and aggressive list of new hardware products, software, and services.

Chief among them is a pair of premium headphones that is almost certainly the complementary product that Sonos hinted at last week. Based on technology from its 2021 acquisition of RHA Audio, the first Sonos headphones could arrive as soon as March 2024 and will allegedly cost $400 to $500, Bloomberg says. Codenamed “Duke,” they’re over-the-ear style headphones that will come in white and black colors, offer voice control capabilities, and will sync with Sonos smart speakers. They will require a new mobile app, codenamed Passport, that will let users control them and other Sonos mobile hardware when away from their home Wi-Fi networks.

But that’s not all.

Sonos is also readying its first-ever push into video with its own TV set-top box to compete with Apple TV and Roku. Codenamed Pinewood, this device will cost $150 to $200, use its own Android-based operating system and run apps, and work as a “central hub” for the customer’s Sonos device family. It will offer Dolby Atmos and Dolby Vision spatial audio and HDR video capabilities, and voice control, and should ship by the end of 2024. It could be accompanied by a Sonos-branded video service at launch or at a later time.

Sonos is also working on home theater equipment that will include a new Wi-Fi 6-capable Sub subwoofer that’s codenamed Lotus and will sync with Pinewood. There’s a new soundbar, codenamed Lasso, that will offer better bass and audio than the current Arc soundbar thanks to “advanced speaker components” from the 2022 Sonos acquisition of Mayht Holding BV; it will cost $1200. New 8-inch in-ceiling speakers. And a high-end amplifier, codenamed Premier, that’s aimed at professional home theater installers and will cost $3000 to $4000.

There’s also a second-generation Roam portable speaker, codenamed Sidecar, on the way that will feature redesigned touch controls on its top with a volume slider similar to its new 2023 speakers. And a more premium version of the Era 100 speaker, codenamed Raven, with built-in Ethernet (as opposed to just Wi-Fi) that’s aimed at restaurants, retail stores, and other businesses, and not consumers, as part of its expansion into the business market.

What this all adds up to is an exciting year for Sonos fans such as myself. While this past year’s new offerings were not enough of an upgrade over my existing speakers to warrant the investment, some of the new products that Sonos is set to launch in 2024 should meet that bar.