Sonos may switch to high-end headphones after sluggish 'Ace' sales

Audio equipment manufacturer Sonos is considering overhauling its headphones lineup and venturing into high-end headphone manufacturing. This move is reportedly being made because of the sluggish debut of the Ace headphones.

Sonos entered the competitive headphones market, which was already dominated by players such as Bose, Sennheiser, Sony, and Apple. As noted in the latest edition of Power On Newsletter by Bloomberg's Mark Gurman, Sonos' debut product, Ace, not only struggled to gain traction but also resulted in the company selling only around 200,000 units.

Initially, Sonos had expectations of selling as many as 1 million units of the Sonos Ace headphones, which wasn't met. Various factors contributed to the sluggish performance of this product, which was considered a good competition to the rivals. Notably, the headphones' $450 price tag and the problematic app launch, where the company redesigned the app and removed key features, are touted to be the two big reasons for the product's failure.

The flawed app hampered the user experience, and people stayed away from Ace headphones. A recent update to the app, which intended to support new products like Ace headphones, has been plagued with bugs and glitches. But that isn't holding down the audio equipment manufacturer from taking another go at the headphones market. This time, the company could see a different strategy.

One strategy, as already mentioned, is developing high-end headphones, currently codenamed "Roundhouse." This also involves reducing the price of the current Ace model by $50 and introducing a new product with at the original $450 price point. It is reported that some Sonos employees are a bit skeptical about this strategy, and discussions are ongoing in the company about the potential success of this plan.

Apart from revitalizing the headphones category, Sonos has recently expanded its soundbar portfolio with the launch of the Arc Ultra and a new Sub subwoofer. Gurman also noted that the launch of the Arc Ultra is based on a roadmap, and other items from the roadmap, such as a set-top box, should still be coming.