Sonos Inc.: Product Development at the Speed of Sound

Kurt Preston, Vice President of Global Sourcing & Product Operations at Sonos Inc. (Sonos), had been considering a Joint Development Model for future Sonos products. In 2022, Sonos began to expand their product offering to target value-conscious consumers and grow market share with more modest price points. Historically, Sonos designed every aspect of their products in house and used Contract Manufacturers (CM) for production. A Joint Development Model (JDM) approach offered an opportunity to partner with the supplier to potentially decrease the product development time and cost. However, JDM meant giving up control of several aspects of the product design and this had many at Sonos very worried.