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Is Sonos making new headphones? It sure sounds like that
- During its earnings call, Sonos mentioned that it is entering a multi-year product cycle where the company expects to reap the rewards of its R&D investments.
- The company has said it will enter a new multi-billion category in H2 2024 to complement its current product portfolio.
- It is widely believed that the new product category would be headphones as the next adjacent market for Sonos.
Sonos is best known for making some great speakers like the Sonos Move and the Sonos Five, but there’s no denying that the demand for exceptional speakers isn’t comparable to other audio products. Sonos knows this, as its revenue decreased by 5.5% despite maintaining a strong market share in the categories in which the company competes. It seems the company has lofty ambitions for the coming year, as it has started teasing a major new product coming next year.
As Sonos shared in its earnings call (via The Verge), 2024 is the beginning of a multi-year product cycle where the company expects to reap the rewards of its R&D investments. This cycle will begin with Sonos’ entry into a new multi-billion dollar category in H2 2024 to complement its current product portfolio.
Further, it expects to generate over $100 million from new product introductions in fiscal 2024, with the new product expected to account for a large portion of revenue in the second half.
A report from Bloomberg citing internal memos suggests that the company has a team dedicated to headphones. The company has been working on headphones for more than four years, but a product has yet to be announced.
It makes sense for Sonos to enter the headphone market. It already operates in an adjacent market with its speaker range and is well-positioned for an expansion into the new space. Sonos hasn’t entered this space in meaningful ways yet, and it has the opportunity to make a difference with a good product experience.