Ok, Google, crank up the tunes on Sonos.
Patrick Spence took the reins at Sonos weeks ago, and a memo obtained by The Verge he sent out to the company when he did makes it no secret where he wants Sonos to expand in the face of increased competition: digital assistant integration.
Many digital assistants like Google Home and Amazon Alexa directly compete with Sonos, and it’s not hard to see them chipping away at the company’s market share. But rather than try to fight them head-on, Sonos wants to play nice with digital assistants in the hope that users will buy Sonos for better home speakers that will integrate easily with their chosen assistant.
Sonos doesn’t want to play favorites.
Even better, Spence doesn’t want to choose sides in the digital assistant dogfight: he wants Sonos to get along with all of the major assistants, “partnering and competing with global leaders like Amazon, Google and (likely) Apple.” It’s worth noting that Sonos is already in the process of integrating Alexa support for Sonos, and they public beta should open up sometime this year.
The letter goes on to encourage more action and innovation from Sonos employees, reminding them of the innovation that got the company to where it is today, but the commitment to finding a new place alongside the digital assistants that blindsided Sonos the last two years is a good start. Whether or not they can accomplishment remains to be be seen.
