It’s been a busy couple of months for good audio system – Amazon launched a bunch simply this week, together with up to date variations of its current Echo {hardware} and a brand new Echo Studio with premium sound. Sonos additionally launched its first moveable speaker with Bluetooth help, the Sonos Move, and in August launched its collaboration assortment with Ikea. Meanwhile, Apple didn’t say something in regards to the HomePod at its newest massive product occasion – an omission that makes it all of the extra apparent the good transfer could be for Apple to amass somebody who is aware of what they’re doing on this class: Sonos.
Highly aligned
From an outsider perspective, it’s arduous to seek out two corporations who appear extra philosophically aligned than Sonos and Apple in the case of product design and enterprise mannequin. Both are clearly centered on delivering premium {hardware} (at a value level that’s typically on the increased finish of the mass market) and each use companies to enhance and complement the attraction of their {hardware}, even when Apple’s been shifting that blend a bit with a fast-growing companies enterprise.
Sonos, like Apple, clearly has a powerful focus and deep funding in industrial design, and places numerous effort into actually distinctive product feel and look that stands out from the gang and is immediately identifiable as soon as you already know what to search for. Even the corporate’s choice for a largely black and white palette feels distinctly Apple – a minimum of Apple main as much as the prior renaissance of multicolour palettes for a few of its extra common gadgets, together with the iPhone.
Then from a technical perspective, Apple and Sonos appear eager to work collectively – and the outcomes of their collaboration has been nice for shoppers who use each ecosystems. AirPlay 2 help is successfully commonplace on all fashionable Sonos {hardware}, and actually Sonos is actually the default selection already for anybody seeking to do AirPlay 2-based multiform audio, because of the wide selection of choices accessible in several kind elements and at completely different value factors. Sonos and Apple additionally supply an Apple Music integration for Sonos’ controller app, and now you should use voice management through Alexa to play Apple Music, too.
Competitive strikes
The fundamental problem that an Apple-owned Sonos hasn’t made a lot sense prior to now, a minimum of from Sonos’ perspective, is that the speaker maker has reaped the advantages of being a platform that performs good with all the key streaming service suppliers and digital assistants. Recent Sonos audio system supply each Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant help, as an example, and Sonos’ software program has connections with nearly each main music and audio streaming service accessible.
What’s modified, particularly in mild of Amazon’s slew of bulletins this week, is that rivals like Amazon are trying extra like they need to personal extra of the enterprise that presently falls inside Sonos’ area. Amazon’s Echo Studio is a brand new premium speaker that immediately competes with Sonos in a manner that earlier Echos actually haven’t, and the corporate has persistently been releasing better-sounding variations of its different, extra reasonably priced Echos. It’s additionally been rolling out extra feature-rich multi-room audio options, together with wi-fi encompass help for dwelling theater use – all issues squarely within the Sonos wheelhouse.

For now, Sonos and Amazon appear to be comfortably in ‘frenemy’ territory, however more and more, it doesn’t seem to be Amazon is content material to depart them their higher-end market phase in the case of the speaker {hardware} class. Amazon nonetheless in all probability will do no matter it will probably to maximise use of Alexa, on each its personal and third-party gadgets, however it additionally appears to be intent on strengthening and increasing its personal first-party machine lineup, with audio system as low-hanging fruit.
Other rivals, together with Google and Apple, don’t appear to have had as a lot success with their merchandise that line up as direct rivals to Sonos, however the speaker-maker additionally faces perennial challenges from hi-fi and audio trade stalwarts, and likewise appears more likely to go up in opposition to newer machine makers with audio ambitions and clear value benefits like Anker, too.
Missing components/work to be finished
Of course, there are some massive challenges and potential crimson flags that stand in the way in which of Apple ever shopping for Sonos, or of that ensuing union understanding effectively for shoppers. Sonos works so effectively as a result of it’s service-agnostic, as an example, they usually key to its success with latest merchandise appears to even be integration with the good dwelling assistants that folks appear to truly need to use most – particularly Alexa and Google Assistant.
Under Apple possession, it’s extremely attainable that Apple Music would a minimum of get preferential therapy, if not turn out to be the lone streaming service on supply. It’s possible that Siri would exchange Alexa and Assistant as the one digital voice service accessible, and nearly unthinkable that Apple would proceed to help competing companies if it did make this purchase.
That stated, there’s in all probability vital overlap between Apple and Sonos clients already, and so long as there was some service flexibility (in the identical manner there may be for streaming rivals on iOS gadgets, together with Spotify) then being locked into Siri in all probability wouldn’t sting as a lot. And it might serve to provide Siri the foothold at dwelling that the HomePod hasn’t managed to supply. Apple would even be higher incentivized to work on enhancing Siri’s efficiency as a common home-based assistant, which might in the end be good for Apple ecosystem clients.
Another good adjacency
Apple’s greater acquisitions are few and for between, however the ones it does make are sometimes clearly adjoining to its core enterprise. A Sonos acquisition has a reasonably sturdy precedent within the Beats buy Apple made in 2014, albeit with out the sturdy motivator of offering the underlying product and relationship foundation for launching a streaming service.

What Sonos is, nevertheless, is an inversion of the historic Apple mannequin of utilizing nice companies to promote {hardware}. The Sonos ecosystem is a superb, simple to make use of, premium-feel technique of taking advantage of Apple’s music and video streaming companies (and model new video games subscription providing), all of that are extra vital than ever to the corporate because it diversifies from its monolithic iPhone enterprise.
I’m hardly the primary to recommend an Apple-Sonos deal is smart: J.P. Morgan analyst Samik Chatterjee urged it earlier this 12 months, actually. From my perspective, nevertheless, the timing has by no means been higher for this acquisition to happen, and the motivations by no means stronger for both occasion concerned.
Disclosure: I labored briefly for Apple in its communications division in 2015-2016, however the above evaluation relies solely on publicly accessible data, and I maintain no inventory in both firm.