A Sonos price hike is about to worsen a bad situation

As a business, you can do a lot when people are angry with your product. You could offer concessions (discounts in order to stimulate demand), exchange your CEO (it’s a declaration and a change of atmosphere), or you could commit to doing better and solving the problems that put upset people (imagine this!). One thing that I would not recommend doing when times are difficult, however, is to increase prices, but Sonos seems to have been forced to this exact scenario.

According to the new CEO of Sonos, Tom Conrad, the Trump administration prices are – as they are for many companies – by reducing, and of course, this will lead to higher prices for its already expensive audio team. According to Bloomberg, Conrad declared in the last quarterly report of profits that “it has become clear that we must increase prices on certain products later this year”. What products? We do not know with certainty, but it is not great given the way things have happened for Sonos lately.

First, there was an application disaster that ended up delaying product launches in 2024 and led Sonos to exchange CEOs from Patrick Spence to Conrad. As if that were not enough, this week, Sonos also admitted that a “very low” number of speakers overheat. In overheating, I mean they were getting so hot that USB-C ports melted. I’m not an expert, but I’m going to go ahead and say that it looks like a little risk of fire.

There is also the fact, as I mentioned, that Sonos brand products are also already quite expensive at the beginning. His ACE helmet, for example, costs $ 400, which is even cheaper than Airpods Max but more than competitors like nothing and his helmet 1, which sells $ 300. In addition, you need a sound bar to make the most of these headphones and its television audio exchange function. Likewise, Sonos Move 2 speakers – a portable Bluetooth speaker – cost $ 450, which even overshadows the bonus of the most recent soundlink more bose. What Swiggle Room Sonos has for these products is not clear, but it seems to me that the increase in prices of these gadgets could be a risky maneuver.

Sonos, for his part, seems to recognize that, and according to Bloomberg, Conrad says that the price increases will vary in different categories. Listen, I do not want to be single sonos here because prices have long-range effects in many different categories, technology and non-technologies, but I would lie if I said that this compression does not feel particularly badly in condition. One thing is certain: if the ball prices further, Sonos will restore its loyalty to the brand to the test in a way that it has never been done before.