Sonos has recently announced the cancellation of its highly anticipated streaming box project, codenamed Pinewood. This project was set to rival the likes of the Apple TV 4K, Google TV Streamer, and Roku Streaming Stick 4K. The Sonos streaming box was designed to be a sleek black square, resembling a deck of cards in thickness.
One of the standout features of the Sonos streaming box would have been its HDMI passthrough functionality. This would have allowed users to connect their gaming consoles, Blu-Ray players, and other devices to the Sonos box, which would then wirelessly transmit lag-free audio to Sonos soundbars and speakers. Additionally, the box was rumored to be capable of configuring a complete surround sound system using various Sonos speakers.
The streaming box was also set to offer 4K HDR playback capabilities, a unified user interface that aggregated content from various streaming services, a powerful universal search system, and Sonos Voice Control for easy navigation. However, despite being in advanced stages of development and undergoing months of beta testing, Sonos executives made the decision to cancel the project.
The cancellation of the Pinewood project comes amidst a shift in focus by interim CEO Tom Conrad, who is prioritizing the strengthening of Sonos’s core essentials to repair the company’s damaged reputation. This includes restoring faith in the Sonos software following the problematic relaunch of the Sonos app. As a result, the team originally working on the streaming box project will be reassigned to other Sonos initiatives, with any plans for a video expansion put on hold for the time being.
With the cancellation of the streaming box project, it appears that Sonos will not be making any major product launches in 2025. The company’s most recent releases were the Sonos Sub Gen 4 and Arc Ultra back in October 2024. This decision underscores Sonos’s commitment to focusing on its core offerings and rebuilding trust with its customer base.
