This puts Sonos in an unavoidable position to both fight Google in the courtroom, as well as fight strong competition in the smart speaker market. Gold does not need to compete in the lower end of the market to succeed, but it has not been able to withstand such strong challenges from big-name competitors.
A licensing deal between Sonos and digital infrastructure company Legrand earlier this week, Sonos could preview what it hopes to achieve with its lawsuit. Legrand is now paying for the licensing of Sonos patents for its own multi-room audio solutions. If the company succeeds in making similar deals with Amazon and Google, it will definitely strengthen the Sonos bottom line and make the competition easier in the weather.
“We believe in a fair market where companies compete on the level playing field and contribute with their innovations and experiences,” Sonos’ chief legal officer Fisher Eddie Lazarus said in a statement earlier this week. “We’re excited to see more companies like Legrand recognize the strength and value of our IPs and offer decent returns.” It’s not hard to read this as a message to Google and Amazon.
Given how long it can take to resolve a complex legal battle, it will take months or more before Sonos finds out whether it can address its issues through a settlement or a court ruling. Sonos made no comment on his ongoing lawsuit
In the meantime, the Sonos strategy will probably stick to its current strategy – but if this new wave of smart speakers fills its business, the Sodosler’s Sonos speaker could become a reality. This will not be the first time Sonos has accepted the previously canceled technology. In 2019, the company released its first portable speaker with Bluetooth, an extension of the speaker segment to a part where it had not previously competed.
To be clear, I don’t think Sonos is going anywhere anytime soon – the company has millions of dedicated users and its share price has skyrocketed by 2020 after bottling out earlier this year. But, to better compete against Amazon, Google and Apple’s low-cost inings fringes, I wouldn’t be surprised to see the company diversify its inings ferings over the next year or so. If those companies can make smaller speakers that sound great, Sonoz should be able to punch back years of its experience, as big ones move on its turf.
