Sonos CEO Patrick Spence said he hopes the company's soundbars could go even more wireless in the future, even by removing the HDMI connection to the TV. At the Sonos Era 100 and Era 300 launch event, Spence told Digital Trends: “I've been pushing the team for a long time; I don't want any soundbar cables. Let's make it even easier.
It's the first time we've gotten such explicit feedback from the company on the subject, and it's no surprise that it's been actively lobbied from the top, as almost all of the best soundbars will be wireless in the future, and not in a "maybe in 10 years" kind of thing. The first ones are here: Many of the best Samsung TVs available today can wirelessly send Dolby Atmos sound to compatible Samsung sound bars, meaning you don't need to use an HDMI port for better sound.
Both LG and Sony currently have products that can wirelessly send audio to soundbars, but they're dongles that still plug into an HDMI port. At Sony, it's the Sony HT-A9 wireless speaker system; with LG, you can get an optional Wowcast dongle that streams audio to many of their soundbars, including the LG S95QR. I've also heard hints that LG is likely to launch a Samsung-like system where Wowcast is built into their TVs, but this is not officially confirmed.
But you can already see the problem that Sonos has with the wireless connection: in these cases we are talking about having a television and a sound bar from the same manufacturer, because the wireless transmission technology will be personalized in each case. HDMI is an open, neutral standard that anyone can use, but it won't be used for wireless soundbars. Businesses will see wireless as the perfect way to get you to spend more money with them specifically; if you want the wireless connection, you will need to purchase their additional product.
There is actually a wireless TV audio technology where the soundbar manufacturer need not have made the TV as well... but it still often crashes. It's just a matter of who made the software for the TV rather than who made the hardware for the TV. Roku makes wireless speakers that work with any Roku TV because your smart TV system controls the sound. Or, you can use two HomePod 2 speakers as a Dolby Atmos system when connected to an Apple TV 4K (2022), which runs Apple's tvOS software.
(This is where I note that there is a standard for wireless home theater audio, called WiSA, but it has little industry support and I don't see that changing. Similarly, DTS's Play:Fi technology is also available in the Philips products, but it is unlikely to support Dolby Atmos, so its widespread appeal is limited).
Sonos Bare Metal
So where does that leave Sonos? It doesn't make TVs, and I don't see that changing (it's a tough industry). You could create your own smart TV operating system, and you would have worked on exactly that, but I think you already missed your opportunity there. It is expected to compete with Roku TV, Amazon Fire TV, Google TV and LG's webOS, all of which are available for TVs. Sonos is not going to beat them.
But you have to do something, because it will only crumble over time if you don't.
I think Sonos needs to do one of two things: it needs a big-name partner in the TV world; or need to go wireless soon and make Sonos compatibility a selling point for TV systems.
The more extreme version of the first option is for Sonos to buy or be bought by a company with a stake in smart TV, but it could be more of a strategic partnership. Sonos would find a huge potential audience by offering compatibility with all TVs that use a particular smart TV system. Google would be ideal in some respects, although the two companies have had patent battles. Roku might be a more realistic option.
The second option would force Sonos to release wireless soundbars as soon as possible, which would mean using a wireless HDMI dongle first. Make people think that wireless soundbars mean Sonos, in the same way that the company has become synonymous with multi-room music systems.
So the point would be to offer to work with the various TV companies (and Smart TV software makers) to add built-in wireless support for Sonos sound bars, because not having this support would make the TV maker look backwards, even though it does support its own wireless soundbars.
Don't make a BlackBerry
Sonos isn't going out of business overnight if it doesn't release a wireless soundbar. But the danger is that Sonos is so far behind its rivals that it can't catch up, and a slow decline becomes inevitable.
BlackBerry still exists, let's not forget, but it will never be what it was, nor what it could have been if the company had recognized the arrival of the iPhone as the danger it represented.
It's a good sign that Sonos is talking about a wireless future, but we won't know if it's made the right decisions for years when many people will be buying Sonos wireless gear to pair with the best TVs from 2029, where it only sells strong. -Wired products for people with older sets.