Sonos out of stock - Order today and it ships 10/15/2021...what's up with that?

Sonos out of stock for 3 1/2 months? No surround sound receivers in the United States? These are some uncharted times in the electronics industry. Here's some information about what is going on and the best way to proceed if you are looking to buy any forms of Sonos, AV receivers or many other types of electronics in the near future.

There is currently a perfect storm of a semi-conductor shortage, a fire in a chipset factory in Japan, factories that were down for Covid and other factors that have made it VERY difficult to procure home electronics. Unfortunately, there is a lack of information combined with a ton of MISinformation that is making it difficult to assess what is in stock and when will electronics be back in. Here are some elements to consider.

1) Many of the ETAs that you will see on-line are FALSE: We constantly see misinformation on Amazon and other sites stating that certain products will be in stock in a week or less when we know that these products won't exist for months. This is a common bait-and-switch tactic used by many sellers on Amazon (keep in mind that in most cases, this isn't Amazon itself but it is a seller on Amazon that makes these claims) where they will state that the product will be in shortly and then once they have your money, you'll get a message in 1-2 weeks stating "There was a delay at the factory and your product may take a little longer...". Our advice is to purchase products from US or a brick-and-mortar store/popular business like Best Buy or Crutchfield where this misinformation will be minimal.

2) Minimal fulfillment: We are only receiving a small portion of the inventory that we previously received. This means that our standard orders that might take 1-2 days may now take 1-2 months as the amount of inventory that is doled out from the manufacturers to a certain region is very minimal. Ex: We ordered 13 Sonos AMPs a few months back and normally we would get them all in 1-2 days. It is now months later and we just got 1 instead of 13.

3) Misinformation from many manufacturers: Unfortunately, many manufacturers feel that they want to hide any form of back-order lists or inventory shortages from businesses and sales teams (I have gotten this from 2 big audio companies specifically). This is unbelievable to us as we feel that the best course of action is to be truthful, whether good or bad, so people can make decisions and know when to expect their products.

Some of this additional misformation I attribute to communication issues at manufacturer level. This is gotten MUCH WORSE since Covid. Ex: I got a consumer-direct e-mail from Denon stating that a specific Denos HEOS streaming amp was in stock. I knew that they didn't exist and checked with our rep to make sure. They confirmed that the product was nowhere in the USA and acknowledged that they didn't know why that e-mail was sent out.

So the above is what's going on...what are some solutions?

1) Buy it NOW: This sounds like a cheesy sales line but due to the shortages and misinformation, if you know that there is a product you want, make an order and get in the queue. We have had orders where we were told by a manufacturer that it was in stock, we placed the order instantly and we were then told that they were OUT-of-stock and it would be another 30-60 days for the product.  We've been doing this for 25 years and we've never seen this type of uncertainty re: inventory levels and stock. Making a commitment and getting in the queue will ensure that you are at least in line.

2) Be patient and consider the above points: As long as you know what you are getting into re: delays and possible shortages, it is easier to mitigate any problems that this might cause. This is a worldwide shortage right now...it'll work itself out soon.

We saw some of this coming and made deep orders in Sonos and in AV receivers to hopefully keep products in stock during this difficult time. Unfortunately we miscalculated and didn't order enough but as of this second we still have Sonos ARC soundbars in stock, Marantz NR1711 AV receivers in stock and other categories that don't exist on Amazon, Best Buy, etc. NOTE: This can change minute-to-minute.

Hopefully this information is helpful and we are hoping that everything gets back to normal by the end of year. Looking for Sonos San Diego? Find Sonos, surround sound receivers and lots of other electronic toys here at Aire Theater Designs in San Diego and So Cal!