Actually, Sonos is probably the best on this - by far. They are at a completely different level than Apple, which is one of the best of the rest.
At the time Beats was the most profitable headphone brand in the world (currently it's No.2 after Apple) and music streaming was still a very small part of their business. Apple probably didn't need headphone division but they would have been stupid to throw it away with so much value behind the brand.
It is possible for a company to expand their product line. Apple used to be personal computers, then they made the iPod, and changed the music industry. Then they made the iPhone, and changed that industry. Then they went into the streaming service. On top of that, a speaker company starting to make headphones isn’t exactly a stretch of the imagination. They're Closely related products; both speakers, just different applications.
My guess? It will have wifi on board for direct Sonos streaming, which is a nice differentiator from bluetooth only headphones. Roam the house, always connected!
Bose was a home stereo and commercial audio brand for most of its existence, it didn't enter the consumer headphones market until 2000 and now they're a major player in high-end headphones. I'm sure there are plenty of consumers out there who would say "I like my Sonos speaker so I'll give these a try." I doubt they'd require an additional Sonos product to be used, they'll likely be just standard Bluetooth headphones.
Make that $ono$ if Apple was owner: the Sonos premium PLUS the Apple premium. 😉
I have Sennheiser Momentum 4’s and they sound really great. I’ve always had luck with Sennheiser headphones. I’m curious where Sonos will try to play here. I assume competing with Sony and Bose.
So the company that revolutionized music with iPod and iTunes had to spend $3B on a crappy headphone brand (and lets be clear, Beats were known for headphones not music streaming) to get a streaming music service off the ground?
XM4's definitely feel sturdied with better build quality compared to the 5's... personally speaking I like both, and use them regularly
I suspect the original AirPods were delayed. They seem like such an obvious fit with the Apple Watch that it’s surprising that they didn’t launch simultaneously. (And they didn’t launch simultaneously with the iPhone 7, either.) That suggests that development of the AirPods was difficult and the AirPods were seriously delayed (Apple probably would have preferred to announce them at the same time as the Apple Watch and launch them simultaneously). It seems like the Beats acquisition probably also helped bring the OG AirPods to market, while the streaming service acquisition would have been cheaper (and faced less regulatory resistance) than, say, acquiring Spotify (which was a rumor floated at the time).
As someone into audio i couldn't agree more...however, as a shareholder, i think they made the right move. The could easily buy both.
The Sonos app provides setup functionality and management of network Sonos devices. You don't need it for Bluetooth comms.
If they tried, Sonos was smart to decline. Apple would have ruined their products and vision and customers would be locked in to craptastic Apple Music (service and app). No thank you...You can have your ugly homepods.
Sonos can only dream about reaching that level, laughable! Sonos is nothing but an eyesore with atrocious user experience. Its sound quality might pass for third-world countries, but it's an absolute joke for Apple users.
