According to Bloomberg insider and journalist Mark Gurman, Sonos is considering developing new premium headphones after poor sales of the Ace model.
Sonos had high hopes for the Ace headphones, planning to sell up to 1 million units. However, due to various factors, including the $450 price, sales were significantly lower than expected. Gourmet reports that only 200,000 units had been sold by September. The imperfection of the proprietary app exacerbated the problem, as one of its main goals was to create a new system for managing headphones.
Sonos’s Ace headphones are under performing and in addition to cutting production, the beleaguered audio company is considering a price cut + a new high-end headphone model https://t.co/GIJxWiscBS
Despite these challenges, Sonos plans to remain in the headphone market and is exploring options to improve its position. One strategy is to develop a higher-end headphone codenamed "Roundhouse". This involves reducing the price of the current Ace model by $50 and introducing a new high-end version for $450. It is too early to say whether this strategy will help the company.
By the way, Sonos has recently announced the Arc Ultra soundbar, which is capable of reproducing 9.1.4-channel sound.