Rennie Addabbo, General Manager, Sonos APAC, shares how Sonos is pushing the boundaries of premium audio with its latest innovations, including the Era 100 Pro and Arc Ultra. He discusses the brand’s growing presence in India, its focus on smart home integration, and the vision driving Sonos in both residential and commercial markets.
Sonos has maintained its reputation as a pioneer in the audio industry for years. Could you walk us through the company’s evolution and highlight what differentiates Sonos from other audio brands today?
Since its founding in 2002, the ambition of Sonos has always been to make listening out loud easier, more immersive, and more rewarding. At a time when major streaming platforms didn’t exist, Sonos transformed the way people enjoy audio at home, making it possible to listen to any song, in any room, wirelessly – a significant leap from the days of room-dominating stereos and physical media libraries. Back then, the technology to deliver that vision didn’t exist. So, the Sonos’ founders built a team of software and hardware engineers to bring it to life from scratch.
This pioneering spirit still defines us today as Sonos continues to stand at the intersection of innovation, design, and sound. We’re not just making speakers; we’re building an ecosystem that elevates how people experience content, whether it’s music, movies, podcasts, or TV.
What truly differentiates Sonos is how deeply we prioritize both innovation and customer experience. From deep industry collaboration with Sonos Soundboard members to meticulously fine-tuning our products, to features like Speech Enhancement and Trueplay™ tuning that all come together to provide an unparalleled listening experience.
The newly launched Era 100 Pro has garnered attention in the professional audio space. What key features make this speaker a standout choice for both commercial and residential applications?
Era 100 Pro is our first purpose-built product for professional install and reflects our commitment to supporting trade partners with solutions designed specifically for light commercial and large-scale residential applications.
With a sleek design and premium sound, Era 100 Pro brings simplified setup through Power over Ethernet+ (PoE+), flexible installation with pro-grade mounts, and greater customization with Zones, a new software tool for managing larger-scale installs. PoE+ provides clients with enhanced reliability, speed and performance with easy integration into existing networks through wired-first networking – a key advantage for high-end installers tapping into the growing home networking and smart home market.
In markets like India, where we are seeing an uptick in experiential retail design, luxury hospitality and new residences, Era 100 Pro allows installers to provide versatile, scalable installation options in environments where warmth and quality of sound is valued, all in a sleek, elegant design.
At the Smart Home Expo 2025, Sonos unveiled the Sonos Arc Ultra and Sub Gen 4 series. Could you tell us more about these product ranges and what they bring to the table in terms of performance and innovation?
Sonos continues to revolutionise the home theatre experience with the launch of Sonos Arc Ultra and Sub 4 – our most advanced and premium offering. Arc Ultra introduces the brand’s breakthrough Sound Motion™ technology – an innovation that drastically reduces the size of the transducer while supercharging bass output. Arc Ultra delivers up to double the bass of its best-selling predecessor, offering an unprecedented 9.1.4 spatial audio experience in a sleek, sophisticated design.
Reinforcing Sonos’ commitment to an inclusive listening experience for all, Arc Ultra also introduces a new Speech Enhancement feature powered by AI and developed in collaboration with the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID). The feature provides four levels of control, allowing users to adjust the dialogue clarity to match their needs, including one specifically made for those with hearing loss.
Adding to the home theatre experience, Sub 4 builds on everything our customers loved about previous generations, with deeper, more dynamic low-end and a refreshed matte design. With India’s growing appetite for premium audio and OTT viewership booming, we are confident these products will strike a chord with both existing and new Sonos users in India.
How do your latest offerings integrate with existing smart home ecosystems? Are they designed to work seamlessly across multiple platforms, or are they optimized for specific systems? Please elaborate.
At Sonos, our focus has always been on building an open and flexible ecosystem. Last year, we introduced a new search API that strengthens compatibility with third-party control systems. Complementing the existing Sonos control API, now content can be searched within multiple streaming services on touch screens from leading home systems manufacturers, with updated Works with Sonos integrations from global partners including Control4, Crestron, RTI, Nice, and URC, and even more partners to deliver an exceptional search experience within their Sonos integrations on a rolling basis.
Are there any upcoming product launches or expansion plans tailored specifically for the Indian market?
India continues to play a central role in our regional growth strategy as we increase investment in retail, brand awareness, and the installer channel. On the professional side, we’ve seen significant demand from sectors like boutique retail, hospitality, and high-end residences — environments where design, usability, and sound all matter. With a diverse product range of amplifiers, streaming devices (Port), Architectural speakers, all-in-one speakers and home theatre systems, installers can provide customisable solutions for homes and businesses. With over 50% of our business in India coming through the installation channel, this puts us in a uniquely strong position to scale.
On the consumer side, we continue to see a strong appetite for multi-room listening systems and Sonos’ most premium offerings – this tells us that we’ve found an Indian customer that resonates with Sonos and is willing to invest. In an effort to broaden our reach to India’s discerning audience, we partnered with luxury retail store, The White Crow, to bring our first experience centre to Mumbai’s luxury shoppers – a partnership that has been met with positive reception and one that we will continue to explore.
Sonos has been a consistent participant at the Smart Home Expo over the years. How has your experience been, and what inspires your continued involvement in this event?
Our experience at the Smart Home Expo has been incredibly rewarding. It is one of the few platforms in India that brings together the entire smart home ecosystem, from integrators and architects to technology partners and consumers, under one roof. Over the years, we have had the opportunity to engage with a deeply informed audience that’s genuinely curious about the future of home technology, and it has been a great way for us to gather feedback, showcase innovations, and deepen our understanding of the Indian market.
What keeps us coming back is the quality of conversations and the momentum we see building in this space. India is evolving rapidly when it comes to connected living, and events like these give us a clear window into emerging trends, preferences, and opportunities. Being part of the Smart Home Expo 2025 has not only allowed us to demonstrate how Sonos products integrate seamlessly into these evolving environments but also reinforced our commitment to delivering premium sound experiences.
Could you share insights into your collaboration with Luxury Personified and discuss your broader marketing strategy or future vision for the Indian market?
Our collaboration with Luxury Personified has been instrumental in shaping Sonos’ presence in India. In over four years, we have rapidly expanded our reach with a nationwide footprint across all major CE retailers and over 100+ professional installer partners. Their deep understanding of the local market and commitment to delivering high-touch customer experiences make them a natural extension of the Sonos brand.
In terms of Sonos’ future vision, India is a major focus of our geo-expansion efforts, as we continue to ramp up investments across retail, brand awareness and the installer channel. From a marketing perspective, as we focus on deepening our engagement with Indian consumers, we will continue to harness unique cultural insights to show up in the right spaces and places that our audience values.
