- Sonos CEO Shares Future Plans
- Company Continues Investment in Headphones
- Car Audio Not a Current Focus
Sonos CEO Tom Conrad recently discussed the company’s future direction with several media outlets, including TechRadar. In a new interview, he confirmed the company’s continued commitment to one product category while tempering expectations for another.
Conrad told Chris Welch at Bloomberg how Sonos plans to build on the Sonos Ace headphones, launched in June 2024, emphasizing that the company remains “really excited” about developing new headphones in the future. The move underscores Sonos’s ambition to compete in the increasingly crowded premium headphone market.
A new pair of headphones – potentially the Sonos Ace 2 – appears to be in development. However, Conrad too expressed some regret regarding the initial positioning of the original model, suggesting that targeting existing Sonos customers first may have been a more effective strategy.
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“I think the thesis for Ace at launch was it’s a $5 billion or $6 billion category, You can develop a pair of headphones that is as good or better than anything else on the market, and the opportunity is to go out there and do hand-to-hand combat with Sony, Bose and Apple and win,” Conrad said.
“Strategic Strength”
While new headphones appear likely, Sonos is not prioritizing car audio in the near future. The company already has a collaboration with Audi, but further expansion in that area seems unlikely – certainly not to the level of systems like the Cadillac AKG Dolby Atmos system.
“As soon as you are in the car, there are a number of new players controlling the experience,” Conrad said. “We are looking for areas where we have strategic strength, and in the car We see harder to argue that we have that.”
However, a “small team” continues to explore potential car products for Sonos. “I would describe what we’re doing in automotive as a hobby,” the CEO stated. “We’ll see what happens there.”
Beyond future plans, Sonos has recently released new products within its core business – wireless speakers. These include an updated Play speaker with improved portability, as well as a more affordable version of the Sonos Era 100. You can locate all the details here.
