Sonos CEO Patrick Spence said he wants the company’s soundbars to be more wireless in the future, even ditching the HDMI connection to the TV. At the launch of the Sonos Era 100 and Era 300, Spence tell digital trends“I’ve been pushing the team for a long time—I don’t want wires for a soundbar at all. Let’s make it easier.”
This is the first time we’ve had such definitive comment from a company on this subject, and it’s no surprise that it’s being pushed aggressively from the top, as nearly all of the best soundbars going forward will be wireless, not in A “maybe in 10 years” kind of way. The first ones are here now – many of today’s best Samsung TVs can wirelessly send Dolby Atmos sound to compatible Samsung soundbars, which means you don’t have to use the HDMI port to get better audio.
Both LG and Sony currently have products that can send audio wirelessly to the soundbar, but they’re dongles that still connect to the HDMI port. For Sony, it’s the Sony HT-A9 Wireless Speaker System; with LG, you get an optional Wowcast dongle that can stream audio to many of its soundbars, including the LG S95QR. I’ve also heard that LG may be launching a Samsung-like system with Wowcast built into its TVs, but that hasn’t been officially confirmed yet.
But you’ve probably seen the problems Sonos has with going wireless – in these cases we’re talking about TVs and soundbars from the same manufacturer, since the wireless delivery technology is custom in each case . HDMI is an open, neutral standard that anyone can use, but it won’t be used in wireless soundbars. Companies will see going wireless as an ideal way to get you to spend more money on them — if you want wireless connectivity, you’ll have to buy their extras.
There is actually over-the-air TV audio technology, soundbar manufacturers don’t need to make TVs too…but usually still All about locking. It’s just about who made the TV software not who made the TV hardware. Roku makes wireless speakers that work with any Roku TV because its smart TV system controls the sound. Or, when two HomePod 2 speakers are connected to an Apple TV 4K (2022) running Apple’s tvOS software, you can use them as a Dolby Atmos system.
(This is where I noticed that there is a standard for wireless home theater audio called WiSA, but it has little industry support and I don’t see that changing. Similarly, DTS’s Play:Fi technology is also available in products from Philips, But that’s unlikely to support Dolby Atmos forever, so its broad appeal is limited.)
Sonos No OS
So, where does Sonos go from here?It doesn’t make TVs, and I don’t see that changing (it’s difficult industry). It could make its own operating system for smart TVs — it’s reportedly been working on that — but I think it’s missed its chance.It will have to compete with Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, Google TV and LG’s webOS can be used on TVs. Sonos can’t beat them.
But it has to do something, because if it doesn’t, it will just get squeezed more and more over time.
I think Sonos needs to do one of two things: it needs a big-name partner in the TV world; or it needs to go wireless early and make compatibility with Sonos a selling point for the TV system.
The most extreme version of the first option is that Sonos would either buy or be acquired by the company that owns a stake in smart TVs, but this could be more of a strategic partnership. By offering compatibility with all TVs using a particular smart TV system, Sonos will find itself with a huge potential audience. Google is ideal in some ways, despite the ongoing patent battle between the two companies. Roku might be a more realistic option.
The second option would require Sonos to launch a wireless soundbar as soon as possible, which would mean using a wireless HDMI dongle initially.Make People Think Wireless Soundbars method Sonos, just as the company has become synonymous with multiroom music systems.
The point is to work with various TV companies (and smart TV software makers) to add built-in wireless support to Sonos soundbars because no Having this kind of support would make a TV maker look behind the times, even if it supports its own wireless soundbar.
don’t be blackberry
Sonos won’t go out of business overnight without launching a wireless soundbar. But the danger is that Sonos is left far behind by its competitors, unable to make up for lost ground, and a slow decline becomes inevitable.
BlackBerry still exists, let’s not forget, but it’s never going to be what it is, or it might be if the company has figured out that the arrival of the iPhone is dangerous.
It’s a good sign that Sonos is talking about the future of wireless, but we’ll have to wait a few years to find out if it made the right decision, by which time either tons of people will buy wireless Sonos gear to match the best of 2029. TV pairing with the company, or it only sells cable products to people with older equipment.
