This puts Sonos in an inevitable position of both fighting out in the courtroom against Google, as well as fighting stronger competition in the consumer market. eloquent speech. Sonos did not need to compete at the lower end of the market to be successful, but it also did not meet such strong challenges from additional big name competitors.
A licensing deal earlier in the week between Sonos and digital infrastructure company Legrand could predict what Sonos hopes to achieve with its lawsuits. Legrand is now paying to license Sonos patents for its own multi-room audio solutions. If the company were to get similar approval from Amazon and Google, it would definitely strengthen Sonos ’bottom line and make the competition easier for weather.
“We believe in a fair market where companies compete on the same level and contribute their own innovations and experiences,” said Sonos chief legal officer Eddie Lazarus. report earlier in the week. “We are pleased to see more companies such as Legrand recognizing the strength and value of our IP and providing appropriate compensation.” It’s not hard to read this as a message to Google and Amazon.
Given how far a complex legal battle can be resolved, it is likely that it will be months or longer before we see whether Sonos can address its issues either through settlement or court ruling. Sonos had no idea about his ongoing lawsuit
In the meantime, Sonos seems to be sticking to the current strategy – but if this new wave of smart speakers makes a dent in its industry, a speaker could Sonos $ 100-ish coming into existence. This was not the first time Sonos had adopted technology that he had previously dismissed. The company released their first portable speaker with Bluetooth in 2019, expanding to a part of the speaker segment where it had not competed before.
To be clear, I don’t think Sonos is going anywhere anytime soon – the company has millions of enthusiastic customers and its stock price has gone up over much of 2020 after going out earlier in the year. However, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the company diversify their offerings next year or so to better compete against cheaper offers from Amazon, Google and Apple. If these companies can make small speakers that are great, Sonos should be able to bring back their years of experience as the big boys move in on the their turf.