Sonos has pulled the plug on its plans for a streaming video player, that was purportedly in development under the codename “Pinewood.”
That’s according to Chris Welch over on The Verge, who claimed only last month to have actually seen the Sonos streaming device, describing it as “nondescript as streaming hardware gets… Viewed from the top, the device is a flattened black square and slightly thicker than a deck of trading cards.”
Welch has stated in his new report that, despite the Pinewood project being “deep into development” with “months of beta testing” that the decision to shelve the launch was revealed in an all-hands call from the leadership team.
The device was originally intended for release in the second half of 2025 but the team working on it have downed tools, with the new CEO Tom Conrad shifting focus away from video.
Pinewood was meant to be a premium streaming video player with an HDMI switcher that would support passthrough functionality for Sonos soundbars like the Arc Ultra.
It was also said to feature extra smarts when configuring Sonos surround sound systems, and offer streaming video apps with deep universal search and content aggregation.
Pinewood had a rumored price tag of $200 to $400, and everyone and his wife commented that Sonos may have a tough time convincing buyers that it’s worth the premium when that price-tag leaked.
That would have been a price that is much more than the major streaming box and stick players such as Apple, Amazon, Nvidia and Google.
The news means that Sonos might not have a major product launch for 2025 but, given the absolute mess that was 2024, that might not be a bad thing as the brand can instead focus on sorting out the software and app issues that have caused an almighty turbulence over the last few months.
