Sonos annual revenue doubles, to US$535m

Wi-Fi device and speaker creator Sonos almost doubled its revenue in 2013, taking in US$535 million.

Revealing its annual revenue for the first time ever, the 13-year-old California-based company now has a bigger share of the $10 billion home-audio market. According to Bloomberg, the spike is due to our increased home use of wireless music services like Spotify, Beats Music in the US and MOG.

“We’ve set ourselves up as the best-kept secret in electronics, but the scale of everything we’re trying to achieve really requires us to do things differently,” said Sonos co-founder Tom Cullen.

In an interview with MusicAlly in February last year Cullen said the company’s Playbar – a product designed to sit underneath flat-screen TVs but one that’s equally as compatible with streaming services – had an audio quality reviewers couldn’t fault.

“Audiophiles won’t even take the test any more, because they can’t tell the difference at 256kbps, and that really bothers them,” he said.

Cullen has also divulged the company is operating at ‘break-even’ status. This could be due to a fraction of 2012’s US$135 million in annual revenue going toward more affordable price points. Last year saw them launch new entry-level speakers that were sold for a fifth of the cost of its predecessors. US$90 million of 2012’s revenue also enabled partners like BV Capital and previous employees to cash-out.

According to Jack Wetherill, an analyst with research company Futuresource Consulting, WiFi speakers made up 17% of wireless speaker shipments last year. Wetherill says Sonos, which uses transmission through Bluetooth, Google Android software, PCs, Macs and Apple Inc. Airplay, was the “undisputed leader.”

Since inception Sonos has reportedly filed 200 patents to cover its wealth of consumer electronic systems. Its investors include Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co., Elevation Partners and Index Ventures (source: S&P Capital IQ).