Sonos is ranked as the top music system among home audio systems according to Electronic House, so it is no surprise that you can find a Sonos product in almost any home you enter. What is surprising is that an astounding 92% of products that Sonos has shipped are still in use today. This is unheard of in our industry as some of those products are nearing 15 years old. The downfall of a great product that stands the test of time is that eventually, the products meet their technical limits. The processing power and memory simply can’t keep up with the technological leaps that have happened over the last two decades. This May, these legacy products will no longer receive software updates or new features.
Legacy products include: original Zone Players, Connect, and Connect:Amp (launched in 2006; includes versions sold until 2015), first-generation Play:5 (launched 2009), CR200 (launched 2009), and Bridge (launched 2007)
Sonos is offering two options to help through the transition.
Option One: Customers can continue to use their products with the understanding that they will no longer receive software updates and new features.
Option Two: Sonos is offering a ‘trade up’ program where customers can purchase a new Sonos product with a 30% credit for each legacy product that is replaced.
If you choose to trade up, your product will be put in Recycle Mode. This deletes and personal information and prepares the products for e-cycling. It also prevents the products from being sold to unsuspecting people. Sonos asks that if you chose to trade up, that you take your product to a certified e-cycling facility. If there isn’t a facility near you Sonos will pay for you to send the product back from responsible recycling.
Sonos stated, “Ideally all our products would last forever, but for now we’re limited by the existing technology. Our responsibility here is threefold: build products that last a long time; continually look for ways to make our products more environmentally friendly through materials, packaging, and our supply chain and take responsibility for helping you through the transition once products near the end of their useful life.”