A new Sonos product is just weeks away. CEO Tom Conrad announced the September launch in the firm's third quarter earnings call. And while he stopped short of revealing the device itself, he did hint that it will be focussed around AI.
Noting that "conversational computing and predictive intelligence are moving into the home," he bigged up Sonos' 20 years' experience in solving the issues this brings, which he defined as "sound, form, systemness, and intelligence."
(If anyone knows what "systemness" is, we'd love to know.)
Unsurprisingly, he said Sonos is uniquely well placed to take advantage of the AI boom thanks to its ecosystem of multi-room-enabled speakers, which encompasses soundbars, home speakers and portable models.
While all AI models will soon offer the same abilities, he thinks what will differentiate systems is "what surrounds the [AI] model in a real home: the hardware that can converse with quality across every room, the system that already knows the shape of a home and the way a family lives in it, the connectivity to reach the speakers, services, and devices that turn a request into coordinated action.
"That’s the operating environment for AI in the home, and Sonos has spent twenty years building it."
So, we can hazard a guess that we'll see a new speaker, but the biggest changes will likely be on the inside, pivoting the Sonos platform to encompass more AI abilities.
Sonos' most recent launch was the Play earlier this year, a portable speaker that earned four stars. It recently launched its new mobile app in beta, in an attempt to win back customers frustrated at the notorious botched app launch of 2024.
That disastrous move introduced bugs while removing certain existing features, and ultimately led to the then-CEO stepping down. Since then, Sonos has been on a major charm offensive to win back customers' trust, even cancelling its rumoured set-top box in order to prioritise fixing existing problems.
A move to AI does bring big opportunities for Sonos, but also a fair amount of risk. Will customers weary of having been put through the wringer over the last couple of years really want a whole new direction and focus for the platform? Or will they just want a bit of stability following all the chaos?
It all depends on what exactly Sonos is offering.
We'll bring you any rumours concerning the launch in the run-up to September.
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