Sonos and Ikea part ways

One of the best ways to get entry-level Sonos speakers was through its Ikea Symfonisk partnership, but that’s ending as the two companies go their separate ways.

Ikea is not restocking the Symfonisk units that are in its stores currently so if you want a speaker, now is the time. In a statement to The Verge, Sonos has clarified that it will continue to support the Symfonisk products via software updates for the foreseeable future.

While we liked the bookshelf and lamp Symfonisk speakers, I found the wall art model to be quite limiting and never quite lived up to its promises. That said, all three model sound great and are often much cheaper than normal Sonos.

The audio company had a very turbulent year in 2024 with a botched app refresh landing the company in hot water that affected sales and led to the removal of CEO Patrick Spence.

For years, Sonos has been pushing itself into the lower end of the market to scoop up more customers with products like the Ray soundbar. Perhaps the end of the Ikea partnership could result in a lower cost unit directly from the audio giant instead. The company is in a position where it really needs to grow to gain back some users lost by its app debacle, and some affordable hardware could be the way to do it. That said, Sonos’ cheaper products can sometimes lose some of the magic from the more expensive units.

Source: The Verge