After news broke out yesterday about Sonos discontinuing software support for its oldest audio products, long-time customers began showing their disdain for the sudden move. The hashtag #SonosBoycott is now trending among audiophiles, prompting Sonos CEO Patrick Spence to issue a public apology. Spence took to his own Twitter account to make the announcement. He began by apologizing for the delay in his response to the issue and that he wanted to get it right before saying anything. He then cleared the air about some earlier statements by explaining that all Sonos products will still work past May 2020.
The CEO Speaks
Spence’s tweet links to their official blog containing a longer explanation for the company’s major mishap. He begins by explaining that once the software updates for older products stop in May, they’ll continue to work as they always have. He continues that even though these legacy devices won’t receive any new features, the company will surely update them with bug fixes and security patches down the line. And if anything detrimental arises, they’ll offer an “alternative solution.” Another issue he had to address was the interconnection between modern and legacy devices. Sonos is known for its tight integration between all its audio gadgets, so any disconnect between products old and new would clearly affect long-time users. Ultimately, it seems like Sonos and its CEO simply want consumers to upgrade to newer products as soon as possible. The trade-up program, which we reported on earlier, is the brand’s way of enticing legacy users to make the jump.
Too Little Too Late?
Unfortunately, the response to his apology have been rather negative. On Spence’s own tweet, comments like these have flooded the reply section: People have mentioned that Sonos has yet to address the core issues, which involve future-proofing the interconnection between legacy and modern product families. Loyal consumers also don’t understand the reasoning behind this drastic change, calling the company out for being anti-consumer and forcing premature upgrades. . For now, Sonos users both new and old will have to wait for another statement regarding the future state of all its products in the coming weeks. Hopefully by then, the brand will have everything in order.
