Sonos is ditching a partnership that yielded some great speakers

Lately, Sonos has been making headlines for what it’s not going to do. It’s not bringing back the old version of its once-beloved app, it’s (reportedly) not going to make a streaming video player, and now it’s not making any more speakers with Ikea. 

Sonos has confirmed to The Verge that it’s winding down its partnership with Ikea, the iconic home furnishings brand that teamed up with the networked home audio manufacturer for some of our favorite wireless speakers. 

Among them were the very first products developed by the duo, the Ikea Symfonisk lamp and bookshelf speakers, which landed in 2019. The speakers, which won our Editors’ Choice award, demonstrated how great-sounding home audio components could also look terrific in the living room while maintaining Ikea-friendly price tags. 

Sonos says it will continue to support existing Symfonisk speakers while also confirming that no more new models will be coming. The speakers will remain on sale while supplies last. 

“Over the past eight years, we’ve had the pleasure of working closely with Idea and are proud of what we’ve achieved,” a Sonos spokesperson told The Verge, adding that “our work together has largely wound down and we won’t be releasing new products as partners.” 

Besides the original Symfonisk lamp and bookshelf speakers, the Sonos/Ikea partnership also yielded the Symfonisk floor lamp speaker (which came with a bamboo light shade—again, very Ikea), an updated Symfonisk Speaker Lamp 2, and a Symfonisk picture-frame speaker. (Tech Advisor, our sibling publication, was only so-so about the latter product, although it’s still a nifty idea.) 

The breakup between Sonos and Ikea is disappointing for a couple of key reasons. For starters, the partnership inspired some of the most cleverly designed speakers we’ve ever tested—a floor lamp that’s also a speaker? Really? Yes, really. 

Also, Ikea’s Symfonisk speakers were surprisingly affordable, with the original Symfonisk speaker retailing for a mere $99, compared to $199 for the cheapest (at the time) Sonos speaker. 

Word that Sonos won’t make any more speakers with Ikea comes roughly two months after we learned that Sonos won’t be going into the streaming-video business—a wise move. 

Meanwhile, Sonos continues to forge ahead with fixes for its much-maligned app. The company remains in a defensive crouch over the poorly received app revamp, which was slammed upon release last year for its spotty performance and array of dropped features. 

Indeed, Sonos’s app update was such a disaster that then-CEO Patrick Spence, who once floated the idea of bringing back the old app before walking back his remarks, stepped down from his position in early 2025. 

Source: https://www.pcworld.com/article/2773612/sonos-is-ditching-a-partnership-that-yielded-some-great-speakers.html

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