Sonos, the audio system manufacturer, offers a huge range of speakers, soundbars and even wireless headphones. The brand has grown since entering the market in 2005 with the ZP100 (which still has support), as have its offerings. Sonos has no parent company, but is a shareholder-backed public company, with Tom Conrad named CEO as of this writing. Before him, it was Patrick Spence, who succeeded founder John MacFarlane. It has a market capitalization of $1.7 billion, with its investors including various stock holding companies, and BlackRock stands out for its stake in the company. BlackRock, in particular, owns 14.82% of the speaker company’s shares.
As for where its speakers are made, you might not be surprised to learn that the company was originally based heavily in China. Many companies, including Sony TVs, manufacture their products outside of China due to differences in labor costs and the fact that most components are also made there. However, the trade deficit between the United States and China initially played a role in the decision of some companies, like Sonos, to move their production out of the country.
Sonos has expanded its manufacturing outside of China
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In a comment to The Verge in 2019, Sonos confirmed that it was “diversifying its production” after a “one-off hit” due to imposed tariffs. The company now has production established in Malaysia, which it began to scale up in 2021, just as pandemic restrictions were being lifted. Reportedly, the CFO at the time said: “It has taken longer than expected, but we are still on track with our Malaysia strategy.”
After having to raise its prices in 2019 due to some backlash online, the idea was to ensure that it would not be affected by future Sino-US feuds. Reports on the Trump administration’s 2025 tariffs by The Verge and Bloomberg indicate that a Vietnam-based supply chain has also been opened. Current Chief Financial Officer Saori Casey said: “You may recall that we made a significant effort to diversify our supply chain a few years ago, which resulted in moving manufacturing of almost all of our US-bound products to Malaysia and Vietnam.
This mitigation did not have much effect as price increases hit the product mix due to tariffs imposed by Malaysia and Vietnam. It’s unclear whether Sonos has pulled out of China entirely. Diversifying the supply chain doesn’t mean they cut everything and run, but it’s very possible that some parts of the manufacturing process will still be done there. There is also little to no information on which models were made and where.
