Sonos headphones might lastly see the sunshine of day in 2024, if a cryptic teaser from the corporate’s chief government is to be believed.
Longtime Sonos CEO Patrick Spence is quoted within the firm’s fiscal fourth-quarter earnings launch pointing towards issues to return within the following fiscal yr. And whereas he doesn’t explicitly point out headphones or another product vertical, he did reference “our entry into a brand new multibillion-dollar class within the second half of the yr that can complement our present providing, delight prospects, and drive rapid income.”
Let’s take a look at that sentence, in reverse.
“Drive rapid income” nearly definitely means one thing you should buy. That’s cash that is available in proper then, not later. And Sonos, ya know, sells issues.
As for the “multibillion-dollar class,” it’s fairly protected to say that Sonos isn’t about to start out making a telephone. (Notice to Sonos: Don’t begin making a telephone. It’s a dangerous concept.) And don’t count on a Sonos-branded TV or automobile or laptop or one thing like that.
Why headphones, then? First, as a result of Sonos headphones have been rumored for years. And whereas that rumor has gained much more steam comparatively lately (we’re making the leap from 2019 to 2022 in these hyperlinks), we’re gearing up for the discharge of the primary headphones with ultra-wideband tech in 2024. That’s vital as a result of it’ll lastly break via the constraints of Bluetooth and produce audio high quality beforehand unattainable to a set of wi-fi cans.
Sonos unleashed a the beginning of a brand new technology of audio system in 2023, with a brand new look, and a brand new title. The Period 100 and Period 300 audio system are broadly well-regarded and really a lot maintain Sonos within the premium (learn: not cheap, at $249 and $449, respectively) speaker market.
Spence didn’t rapid elaborate throughout his ready remarks on Sonos’ earnings name, although he did say the corporate expects to do someplace within the neighborhood of $100 million in income from new merchandise, “with this thrilling new product accounting for a big portion of this income of within the second half.” Sonos’ fiscal yr ends on September 30 of every yr.
Right here’s the complete quote from Spence, for context:
“Whereas present market circumstances stay difficult, that is the start of a multiyear product cycle the place we count on to reap the rewards of our [research and development] investments. This cycle begins with our entry into a brand new multibillion-dollar class within the second half of the yr that can complement our present providing, delight prospects and drive rapid income. We’re so enthusiastic about what we now have to share with the world in fiscal 2024 and past.”
Spence later within the Q&A piece of the earnings name did reference the 4 new classes that Sonos plans to enter long-term. The primary of which is Sonos Professional (suppose Sonos for enterprise), which debuted in 2023 and is extra of a protracted soak, he mentioned. “The one we’ll get into this yr has extra rapid advantages to our enterprise. … It’s fairly materials for what we’re laying out into 2024.”
Editors’ Suggestions
