They bought them for $3 billion, and Apple Music generated $8.3 billion in revenue last year. Great investment.
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Sonos Announces Plans to Enter Major New Product Category, Likely Headphones
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Maybe Sonos bought the iPod brand name, and will revamp iPods with modern features?
This feels generous toward Apple...
100% agree with that .. I got rid of mine, too damn heavy, everything else was great except for the lighten port.
No thanks. The less that the bigger companies buy out the smaller ones, the better.
I don’t hear nearly as much about Sonos as I used to. I reckon that Amazon Echo devices ate into their marketshare a fair bit?
I don’t reckon that Sonos headphones will really bring customers into the Sonos ecosystem (though it would probably be a great boon for users already in their ecosystem), so I’m not sure if it makes much sense for them.
I don’t reckon that Sonos headphones will really bring customers into the Sonos ecosystem (though it would probably be a great boon for users already in their ecosystem), so I’m not sure if it makes much sense for them.
I’m going to need them to put an H1/H2 whatever chip in them if possible. I’m spoiled by the fast switching on my AirPods Pro.
I purchased a relatively large Sonos speaker in 2016. I had pretty bad connection problems between the Sonos Speaker and my MacBook and iPhone, not to mention I thought the sound overall was just decent nothing great. I ended up returning the Sonos and have steered clear from the brand ever since.
That’s definitely a thing I’ve come to take for granted. I mostly use it for switching from phone to watch, but it’s also useful for the Apple TV.
Then the speakers would run sonOS.
I don't really think it's that complicated. Just like you play music services on a speaker, you'll play them via headphones. There will likely be a number of advantages. For example, by streaming to the headphones directly, you won't hear notification alerts produced by your phone. If you're streaming from another source, it's likely bluetooth and has limited range. If you have a soundbar connected to your tv, you can likely send that audio to your headphones instead. This will be helpful for those that don't have AppleTV and AirPods. You can have the equivalent of SharePlay, but not limited to two headphones. It will be easy to transition between speaker and headphones. You may be able to do this with a stereo receiver today, but then you're again limited in range. I'm sure there are other advantages.....
Unfortunately this happens a lot. At least companies are starting to commit more to longer term support. For sure headphones prior to the most recent wireless versions would last for years and years, essentially until the cable wore out. But these days they are mostly limited by battery longevity.
Hope sonos and others figure out ways to make their batteries last longer or make them easier to replace (user or as a service).
I was actually puzzled when Apple first bought beats. I thought the beats brand was a bit below them… I did buy some beats x a long while ago and to be fair they did last a long time and worked well. But after buying airpods I haven’t bought any other brand for earphones.
But I think they should have taken what they needed and dispensed with the beats as a headphone brand. I never thought much of beats but knew they were bass heavy, which I do like at times.
I only bought beats once, and only because apple owned them. If it weren’t for that, I wouldn’t have touched them with a barge pole.
Why in the world would Apple throw away money on such abysmal speakers with subpar software and hardware? It's utterly nonsensical and a complete waste!
As a longtime Sonos user from pretty much day 1, the lure of headphones has been a consistent drumbeat on the Sonos user forums. When you use only one inhome app for music but then have to switch out for headphones, well, it is a nuisance. Besides as a product extension, it is really the only one left after they 'moved' into the portable speaker category a while ago. I think it is a good move and will be readily loved by users.
Thats bs. Many versions of S1 products are S2 compatible and can upgrade for free. And if you can't upgrade to S2 your speakers still work and the S1 app still gets updates(was last updated 1 week ago on the app store). They also have a great trade in program. I can trade in my old Sonos Connect for 30% anything in the Sonos store if I wanted.
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A bit off topic - long time Sonos user…. I thought Spatial Audio was a gimmick but my new pair of era 300s are amazing with Apple Music.
I have at least 12 of their speakers because I like their inter connectivity and filling my house with sound. It’s convenient and reasonable audio quality but far from great.. I hate their app. Use it only when I have to. But I see your point, that for those that like the app Sonos making headphones could make sense. But I don’t see these bringing in new people, so still question if this makes sense or not. And I doubt they will be a sound quality upgrade to get me, a Sonos owner, to switch to them.
I think that this could bring new people in. They have an eco system, similar but obviously smaller than Apple.
If Sonos was on my radar but I hadn’t bought any yet, headphones could be the gateway in.
I’m interested to see what the bring out. Having only stuck with in ear AirPods for years now, I’d be tempted by over ears.
I think it’s a sensible move for them.