Home sound system manufacturer Sonos has become the latest technology company to announce significant price rises for British customers following the Brexit vote.
Some of the company’s products are increasing in price by up to 25%, as a result of the collapse in sterling since the EU referendum last June. The price rises were announced on Monday, but will not be put in place until Thursday 23 February.
“We pay for everything we make in US dollars,” the California-domiciled Sonos said in a statement. “Over recent months, there has been a significant change on the US dollar to GBP exchange rate. As a result, our existing pricing has become unsustainable and, like many other companies, we have to increase prices for all products priced in GBP.”
The company’s key products, the Play:1, 3 and 5 speakers, will go up in price by about 15% from £169, £259 and £429 respectively to £199, £299 and £499. Its more specialist Connect line, which allows listeners to use Sonos technology to broadcast digital music through their pre-existing speaker setup, is seeing the full 25% rise, from £279 for the Connect and £399 for the Connect:Amp to £349 and £499 respectively.
Sonos joins a growing list of technology companies that have announced significant price increases since the Brexit vote. Apple was one of the first to move, with prices rising by about one-fifth last October. That same month, Microsoft increased its cloud-hosted service pricing by up to 22%. In January, Apple moved again, increasing app prices by 25%. Companies that charge customers in dollars, such as Amazon Web Services, have also passed on sterling’s collapse to consumers.