Sonos CEO Apologizes After Gear Sunsetting Plans Irked Customers

“We did not get this right from the start,” Sonos CEO Patrick Spence wrote customers Thursday. That's after two days of rebukes from customers who were told their systems would no longer receive software updates as of May (see 2001230058). Thanking customers for their loyalty, Spence said: "I hope that you’ll forgive our misstep, and let us earn back your trust." In the email apology, also on a blog, Spence sought to “personally assure” customers of the path forward for legacy products, including original Zone Players, Connect, Connect:Amp, first-generation Play:5, CR200 and Bridge products. When Sonos ends new software updates for legacy products in May, “they will continue to work just as they do today,” said the executive: “We are not bricking them, we are not forcing them into obsolescence, and we are not taking anything away.” It wasn’t clear Friday how legacy and modern Sonos products would work together after May. Addressing the customers whose Sonos systems include both, Spence said: “We are working on a way to split your system so that modern products work together and get the latest features, while legacy products work together and remain in their current state.”