sonos

sonosThe company is already on track to double sales in 2011, excluding sales that will start shortly in China, he said.

Also driving company growth has been the launch of the company's first amplified speaker in 2009 at a suggested $399 and the launch of free iPod, iPhone, iPad and Android apps that turn the mobile devices into Wi-Fi-based Sonos system controllers. The apps make it unnecessary to buy a $349-suggested handheld RF controller to choose the PC-stored songs and Internet music sources that Sonos systems stream wirelessly around the house to the amplified speakers and to other Sonos-brand wireless receiving devices.

Eighty percent of new Sonos purchasers use only an app to control their Sonos systems, Cullen noted.

The iPod/iPhone app launched in 2009, followed by the iPad app in late 2010 and the Android app earlier this year.

Another growth driver is the growing popularity of Internet music streaming among consumers, Cullen said. Sonos tapped into that demand over the years by expanding the selection of Internet radio stations and Internet music-streaming services accessible through its system, most recently with the addition last week of Spotify in the U.S., he said. Sonos systems in the U.S. now access 13 streaming services and thousands of Internet radio stations.

The company expects the new $299 two-way speaker, called Play:3, to help keep the momentum going. Play:3 is available in stores today and joins the larger $399-suggested Play:5 three-way speaker, formerly called the ZonePlayer S5.

Both tabletop speakers deliver stereo from a single chassis and wirelessly stream music from the Internet and from networked PCs when a home's router is connected to a wireless-equipped Sonos Bridge, which was recently repriced to a suggested $49 from $99. The speakers also stream music from iPods and iPhones docked in a wireless iPod/iPhone dock launched late last year at a suggested $119.

The Play:3 is not only less expensive than the Play:5 but is also less expensive than two other Sonos options that consumers can use to build a wireless multi-room audio system. Those options include the $349 Sonos Connect Amp, which connects to an existing sound system and was formerly called the ZonePlayer ZP120. The other option is the $499 Connect, which features built-in amplifier to connect to a pair of passive speakers. It was formerly called the ZonePlayer ZP90.

sonos