Technology Review of Sonos Smart Speakers

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Sonos currently offers products that enhance consumer’s audio experience. These products are separated into three different categories: music specific products, products that are compatible with home theater systems and products that enhance the consumer’s existing stereo systems. Products range in price from $249 - $899 CAD; this allows the consumer to customize and prioritize rooms in their home. If the consumer wants music throughout their home they can purchase speakers at different price points to outfit rooms that they spend more time in with higher end Sonos speakers and other rooms with the less expensive models. Sonos products can be found online, directly through the Sonos website or through conventional retailers such as Best Buy or Amazon. Sonos opened their flagship retail store in July of 2016, but have also made their products available in brick and mortar retail locations such as Visions Electronics.

Sonos is compatible with over 30 different streaming services. Consumers have the choice of using the Sonos application to control and curate their music or they can set up their Sonos to be compatible with the streaming service they subscribe to. This helps to dictate a certain consumer demographic that Sonos wants to appeal to, individuals who are willing to spend money to access different types of music and podcasts. It also makes music easy to access and easy to explore, many different streaming services curate playlists and allow users to create their own. Sonos allows for different speaks to play different music at the same time, thus someone could be in the kitchen cooking to Ray Charles and someone could be in their room getting angsty with Metallica at the same time.

Having been raised in a family where technology was always present, I have always gained a tangential advantage because I unknowingly had access to new technology. This has also been pervasive in my adult life because I have many friends who work in sales within the consumer technology industry. I have friends who were early adopters of Sonos products and have continued to purchase Sonos products to outfit their home. I recently purchased two of the entry-level Sonos speakers and find myself using them daily. Having both Sonos and a Bluetooth speaker dock, I can attest to the fact that I find it more convenient to tap into my Sonos products than to wait for my phone to find the Bluetooth connection to my speaker dock. The sound quality of the Sonos Play-1 speakers is phenomenal, superior to products that are double the price. The Bluetooth speaker dock that I own retailed for $600 when it was purchased; the two Sonos speakers each retail for $250. The difference in quality is so miniscule that unless the listener has a trained ear or superior knowledge of audio systems, there is no apparent difference. Yet with the Sonos I can have music in multiple rooms throughout my home, without having to blast the music to fill the house.

With the normalization of video and audio streaming services, consumers will begin to look for hardware options to replace traditional speaker systems. Sonos is one of the first brands on the market to offer audio that is streamed via Wi-Fi. They have seen success within their chosen market; with consumers becoming more savvy and informed this product will become increasingly popular as regular consumers begin to understand the technology. While initially the idea of this product could appear daunting, it is actually very simple and easy to use. Sonos has continued competitive advantage because most of their competitors are indirect competitors, offering a similar product, but with very different features and benefits. Competitors are still looking to produce Bluetooth speakers, and have not yet broken into the market where music is streamed over Wi-Fi; while this competitive advantage cannot be sustained forever it has lasted the last 15 years. Sonos produces a unique, beautiful, user-friendly product that showcases a lifestyle many consumers want to adhere to; their rebranding efforts have made them even more successful. It will be interesting to see the direction this company goes in the next decade.

References

Bradley, R. (2014, October 30). How Sonos built the perfect wireless speaker. Bloomberg L.P. Retrieved from https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2014-10-30/how-sonos-and-john-macfarlane-built-the-perfect-wireless-speaker-for-streaming-music