As Sonos shares fall over 10% this year, and weeks after the release of new headphones the struggling US sound Company is back leaking new products, with insiders claiming that the business is set to launch another soundbar, as some owners call for a class action against the business over their latest app debacle.

The move comes as Sonos customers continue to complain about the performance of its poorly received mobile app redesign with management still trying to fix bugs that should have been identified prior to the new app being released.

The new beta Sonos S45 Lasso is aimed at the premium soundbar market despite retailers reporting a slump in sales of soundbars and TV’s.

Sonos app a basketcase claim consumers.

Lasso is apparently the soundbar’s codename and is not the final go to market name.

Sales of the Companies new headphones are also slow according to insiders.

One comment heard by ChannelNews was “Why buy new Sonos headphones that hook up to an app that does not work”.

The new soundbar offering is designed to be a successor to the current Sonos Arc with the business punting on a significant price increase due to what they claim is “new technology”.

One price tipped for the Australian market is $1,999.

Sonos claims that unlike the previous model the components and speaker drivers have been completely overhauled and redesigned resulting in the need for a significant lift in price from the $1,400 that JB Hi Fi is ranging the product for locally.The new Arc soundbar will be first Sonos product to integrate technology from Mayht, the European Company that Sonos acquired for A$147M last year.

ChannelNews understands that the business has faced challenges in being able to get Mayht’s transducer system more cost efficient, as it makes use of “expensive” neodymium magnets.

According to sources, the upcoming soundbar should deliver substantially better bass performance than its predecessor.

With the current model ARC users have to really buy a Sonos Sub or Sub Mini to get the best performance out of the speaker and they currently cost $1,200 or a mini sub for $699.

The need for a sub with the new product could result in Consumers having to fork out $3,200 for new soundbar kit.

One big plus is that the new soundbar will support Bluetooth audio playback, something that the Arc does not.

In recent weeks Sonos has been frantically releasing updates to its mobile app as it tries to address customer frustrations.

The negative sentiment that has embroiled the company’s community since May has not gone away with

It’s clear to me that Sonos is listening and moving quickly, but a lot of damage has already been done: the Android version of the Sonos app currently has a brutal 1.2-star average review rating. The rating on Apple’s App Store isn’t nearly as bad since older reviews are still balancing out the spate of complaints that came with the redesign.

On the brand Pilot reviews site, the Company has a rating of 1.2 with 84% of consumers giving the business a one star review.

The comments are scathing with some calling for a class action against the Company.

One user wrote “How about starting a class action?. This company has sold us a product and then has basically made it unfit for purpose by changing the App/ software that controls it.

This is not an accidental change, it is a deliberate one. Rolling back to the previous app versions whilst fixing the issues would be a solution. But Sonos choses not to do that.
It’s time to take them to court”

Matt, a European owner of a Sonos product wrote, “I do not recommend buying any product from Sonos as of now. The updated app that was released in May 2024 is not user friendly, very un-intuitive and unnecessary hard to use. The app is also slow and really (I mean REALLY) slow to respond to the basic commands, as controlling the volume and skipping between songs”.

Peter, wrote last month “The app is so bad I’m considering changing my system I’ve used Sonos since its launch in Sweden and have always loved the system and the products. However, these days, the app/software is so bad so I’m considering changing my system. It drops the speakers, it’s difficult to change volume, it doesn’t always connect to my Spotify account, the user interface is crowded and full of irrelevant material and ads for their products. They need to rework the app”.