Sonos has lengthy been rumored to be engaged on its first set of headphones, but when they’re actually coming, it may not be for awhile.
Throughout Sonos’s quarterly earnings name Wednesday, Sonos CEO Patrick Spence advised buyers that within the coming fiscal 12 months, the corporate can be “targeted on launching new merchandise in our present product classes.”
That assertion would seem to rule out headphones, which might be an all-new product class for Sonos.
Sonos’ fiscal 12 months begins in September, so based mostly on Spence’s assertion, it might be a minimum of seven months earlier than Sonos unveils a brand new product–corresponding to headphones–in a brand new class.
In the course of the name, Spence famous Sonos’s “dedication to launching a minimum of two new merchandise per 12 months.” Provided that Sonos launched the second-gen Sonos Beam soundbar in the beginning of the corporate’s 2022 fiscal 12 months, we will “anticipate to see a minimum of one extra product launch from [Sonos] later this 12 months,” Spence mentioned.
Amongst Sonos’s present product classes are related audio system, soundbars, amplifiers, and community audio streamers. The final time Sonos made an enormous push into a brand new class was in 2019 with the Bluetooth-enabled Transfer, Sonos’s first moveable speaker, which might additionally hook up with Wi-Fi.
Reached for remark by TechHive, a Sonos rep mentioned the corporate didn’t have “any extra data to share presently.”
There have been rumblings for years about Sonos going into the headphone market. The rumor mill went into excessive gear earlier this month after Sonos acquired a Bluetooth audio startup that makes a speciality of LE Audio, a brand new Bluetooth customary that provides a lift in SBC (the default Bluetooth codec) audio high quality whereas utilizing the identical quantity of bandwidth.
Late final 12 months, Sonos acquired RHA Applied sciences, a British tech agency that was engaged on a high-end noise-canceling headphone that might be the premise for an eventual Sonos headphone.
Right here is Spence’s full assertion about Sonos’s product plan for the approaching fiscal 12 months:
As we glance ahead, we have now a strong and thrilling future product street map. As a reminder, we refresh present merchandise, launch new worth factors in present classes and now have opened up new classes and companies over time. With normal availability in early 2021, Beam Gen 2 marked our first product introduction of fiscal 2022. Beam Gen 2 is the latest model of our industry-leading compact good soundbar for TV, music, gaming and extra. The brand new Beam delivers a refreshed and upgraded extra immersive sound expertise with higher depth and readability in addition to help for Dolby Atmos. Given our dedication to launching a minimum of two new merchandise per 12 months, you’ll be able to anticipate to see a minimum of one extra product launch from us later this 12 months. In fiscal 2022, we’re targeted on launching new merchandise in our present product classes.
