Tech and AI must advance user experience, from backstage: Sonos’ Rennie Addabbo

The audio hardware space is increasingly resembling a crucial trend, common to the smartphone ecosystem. Annual, often hurried upgrades for headphones, speakers and home theatre systems. It must not be easy for Sonos, the American audio company, to not follow the competition. The company’s new home theatre system, the Arc Ultra, is an example — it follows the Arc, the then flagship launched in 2020, almost five years later and the company says it has done enough to give it the ‘Ultra’ moniker instead of ’2’ or something that simply represents a generational change. In a conversation with HT, Rennie Addabbo, who is General Manager for Sonos APAC, insists it underlines the company’s focus on longevity rather than a quick churn with new products. That’s what also defined Sonos’ foray into the headphones space a few months ago.