Sonos Cancels Plans for Apple TV-Like Streaming Box

Sonos has ended work on a high-end streaming set-top box that was expected to launch sometime in 2025, reports The Verge. Sonos informed employees of the streaming box's cancelation in a meeting today, and has reassigned those that were working on the product to other teams.

sonos logo
The set-top box was supposed to be Sonos' major product for the second half of 2025, and Sonos spent considerable resources on it. It was almost completed, and was even beta tested for months, but interim CEO Tom Conrad has decided to reprioritize Sonos' roadmap, and a push into video is no longer happening at the current time.

Sonos planned to compete with the Apple TV and other streaming boxes with its now-canceled "Pinewood" project, and the device would have been priced between $200 and $400. It was described as a simple black box with a "beautiful" Android interface that offered content from Netflix, Max, Disney Plus, and other streaming services.

Sonos wanted to reduce fragmentation in the streaming ecosystem, and to distinguish the streaming box from competing products, it would have doubled as an HDMI switch. Users would have been able to plug in gaming consoles, soundbars, and other devices using passthrough functionality, and it is said to have solved a latency problem that long annoyed Sonos.

Sonos plans to work on software improvements to continue to repair the damage done by last May's disastrous app update.

Tag: Sonos

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Top Rated Comments

Think|Different Avatar
14 weeks ago
Good! There's really no competing against it. I am sure it was just gonna be some Android TV thing, too.

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Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Homme Avatar
14 weeks ago
????

Thats what they get after that horrendous Sonos app redesign that none wanted but also from its domino effect which extends to this
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
xraydoc Avatar
14 weeks ago
This was the right decision. I'm happy with my Sonos gear (again, now that the app is pretty much fixed), but just couldn't see the point in a streaming box. That's a tough market to crack and I don't think someone as relatively small as Sonos would have been able to turn a profit on it.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
elvisimprsntr Avatar
14 weeks ago
At least they abandoned the product before it got in the hands of customers. Win for customers.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Johnny907 Avatar
14 weeks ago
Pretty sure this is just recognizing that the market is already saturated, and most new TV’s come with apps built in which is good enough for most households. Apple owns the high end market, leaving Google/Roku/Amazon to fight each other over the low end. No point in wasting money launching a competing device if it doesn’t bring anything that differentiates itself from the the high end or low end.
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Amazing Iceman Avatar
14 weeks ago
Yeah, they need to first fix any standing issues with their platform before embarking into the unknown.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)