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Santa Barbara (dpa) - The loudspeaker provider Sonos is entering the auto business together with Audi.
The pioneer in networked speakers will equip the future electric model Q4 e-tron, said Sonos boss Patrick Spence in a video conference with analysts.
It has long been speculated that Sonos could expand its business to include cars.
Now the foray into a new product category became known almost casually without the big announcements usual in such cases.
Audi presented details of the Q4 e-tron on Tuesday.
Although Sonos was not mentioned, Internet users discovered the Sonos logo on the loudspeaker in one of the doors in a photo of the interior.
Spence then confirmed the collaboration in response to an analyst request.
Audi is innovative and ready to experiment, he said.
Further details on the cooperation will be available soon.
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Sonos is facing strong competition in the automotive market, including the Samsung subsidiary Harman, which installs loudspeakers under well-known hi-fi brands such as JBL, Mark Levinson and Lexicon in vehicles.
The automakers are also notorious for haggling hard with their suppliers for amounts of cents in order to lower the cost per vehicle.
At the investor event, Sonos presented a mini speaker that can be used both outside and at home.
The company's loudspeakers are currently in use in 11 million households with around 25 million residents - and Sonos has now targeted 100 million users.
He sees an opportunity in the fact that with the advance of video streaming offers, also due to the corona pandemic, more people want cinema sound in their living rooms, said Spence.
Almost 40 percent of Sonos households currently have one of the company's products and the remaining 60 percent have an average of four devices.
Germany developed into the world's second largest market for Sonos after the USA, said Spence of the German press agency.
In the last quarter with the Christmas business, Sonos made a good $ 58 million in sales in this country.
In the US home market, the company generated a good half of the total revenue of around 646 million dollars (543 million euros).
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210310-99-757623 / 2