Sonos files papers, plans to go public before autumn

Sonos is planning on going public as soon as July, according to a report from the Wall Street Journal.

The manufacturer is apparently intends to hit a target value of between $2.5bn and $3bn (£1.8bn - £2.16bn).

The decision to file confidentially is one other large tech companies, like Twitter and Snap (formerly Snapchat), have taken - it's an option for businesses that generate less than $1bn in revenue yearly.

Sonos' major competitors are many and various. While the company has a loyal user base thanks to its reliability and range of speakers, it's attacked by premium manufacturers like Denon (with its HEOS system) as well as Bluesound's multiroom products, while also contending with challenges from the likes of Amazon.

The Amazon Echo line of speakers - which includes the Dot, Spot, and Plus alongside the classic Echo - offers a form of multiroom functionality, as well as supporting Amazon's Alexa voice assistant.

Sonos has its own smart speaker rival, the Sonos One, but it is considerably more expensive than Amazon's range.

It also needs to differentiate itself from Apple and its sonically impressive HomePod, another factor future investors will have to take into consideration.

Sonos has yet to comment on the news.

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Simon Lucas is a freelance technology journalist and consultant, with particular emphasis on the audio/video aspects of home entertainment. Before embracing the carefree life of the freelancer, he was editor of What Hi-Fi? – since then, he's written for titles such as GQ, Metro, The Guardian and Stuff, among many others.