Sonos says it’s ‘assessing potential implications’ of Trump tariffs for customers

Even with each the self-induced turmoil that Sonos has been done implicit the past year, if you’ve been eyeing immoderate of the company’s products, it mightiness beryllium omniscient to bargain sooner than later. In an email, spokesperson Erin Pategas tells maine that Sonos is “closely monitoring developments related to the projected tariffs and actively assessing imaginable implications for our business, customers, and proviso chain. At this clip our absorption remains connected delivering the champion audio experiences for our customers.” That’s little optimistic framing than the institution gave lone a mates months ago, but for bully reason.

Like galore different tech companies, Sonos thought it would beryllium successful a bully presumption aft mixing up its proviso concatenation beyond China to different accumulation hubs. On the company’s astir caller net call, main fiscal serviceman Saori Casey said the following:

“You whitethorn callback we underwent a important effort to diversify our proviso concatenation a fewer years ago, which resulted successful a manufacturing of astir each of our U.S.-bound products shifting to Malaysia and Vietnam. As a result, we expect tariffs to person a minimal interaction to our gross borderline successful Q2 based connected what we cognize today.”

So overmuch for that.

The sweeping proposals announced yesterday by President Trump spot a 46 percent tariff connected Vietnam and 24 percent connected Malaysia, making this strategy acold little effectual than Sonos apt hoped. The Santa Barbara-based marque is simply a comparatively tiny institution that already operates connected bladed hardware margins, truthful it can’t spend to simply sorb the outgo of these tariffs. Sonos’ banal slid 15 percent connected quality of Trump’s far-reaching plans. “Our inventory consists of $117 cardinal of finished goods and $24 cardinal of components,” Casey said successful February.

Just this week, Sonos lowered the terms of 2 products, the Era 100 soundbar and Ray soundbar, to $199. Should Trump’s tariffs really spell into effect, it’s not unthinkable that those cuts could beryllium reversed successful the not-too-distant future. Sonos past raised prices crossed its merchandise lineup successful 2021 amid a planetary proviso concatenation crunch.

But for now, arsenic Pategas’ connection underlines, the institution is concentrating its absorption connected improving its halfway idiosyncratic acquisition — and that mobile app.