US Markets
Home›US Markets›Equities›OpenAI plans a smart-speaker device, raising pressure…
OpenAI plans a smart-speaker device, raising pressure on Sonos
Sonos has said it returned to growth, with second-quarter revenue up 8% year over year to $282 million, as it works on new hardware and AI-adjacent offerings.
OpenAI is developing its first piece of consumer hardware, a smart-speaker style device, according to a recent report highlighted by Yahoo Finance. The move is aimed at bringing ChatGPT into the home, and it signals more competition for established players in smart home audio.
The news has landed on Sonos, which operates in the smart speaker market. Sonos has spent the past two years trying to repair customer trust after a troubled software update in early 2024, and it has positioned growth around five levers: new hardware, customer advocacy, stronger marketing, expansion into new countries, and “adjacencies” tied to voice and AI.
Sonos’ CEO, Tom Conrad, described an installed base of 17 million homes with tens of millions of microphones already in place and argued that reach gives the company a path to play a role in conversational AI at home. On the company’s second-quarter earnings call in May, Conrad said Sonos returned to growth, with revenue up 8% year over year to $282 million, and pointed to positive reviews of the new Sonos Play speaker.
Conrad also said the larger opportunity is still ahead, involving use of Sonos’ connected, voice-enabled devices for AI services, though he did not provide details. The Yahoo Finance piece frames OpenAI’s reported hardware push as a sign that the category is poised to get more crowded.