Many companies do this. For instance Sonos offers 30% off:
Bravo to Sonos and the team at Hubitat should absolutely be thinking about doing the same. Acquisition of new customers is considerably higher than building brand loyalty through trade-up promotions and other customer-minded programs.
Sonos also charge insane prices for their low quality junk, so they can afford to.
I wouldn't say Sonos is insane pricing. Any other wireless speaker out that that comes close to Sonos for sound quality and whole house audio integration is in the same price range or higher, and don't offer 30% discounts for upgrades. I frankly like Sonos more because they do allow upgrade paths. Most of us in this home automation hobby or fascination are early adopters and routinely want the latest and greatest tech.
OTOH, there are also many people who find Sonos’ planned obsolescence irritating.
Go check out a tear down or their gear - they are very much like Bose, Premium priced but the guts arent anything special. The "sound quality" is achieved by digital trickery.
Bose > Sonos
Not sure if that’s a fair statement. You are buying their software just as much as the hardware.
I am very weary and wary about Sonos having been bit by the legacy issue described in @marktheknife's link to my earlier post... The sound is very good, equipment seems solid but I'm not an audiophile - the real appeal is the flexibility in being able to group speakers as you need and stream stuff seamlessly.. You do pay a premium and I'm not completely sure it's worth it given Sonos seemingly tone-deaf (!!) responses to existing customers (UI revision was another debacle).
The play:1 sl's (without Amazon echo stuff) are very nice little moisture resistant speakers and if you can buy some refurbished ones...
You get much better sound from a basic name brand amplifier and good quality 2-way bookshelf speakers compared to say a pair of Sonos 5's which are $749 each here in Australia.
For $500 AUD less, I can get a pair of Polk S20's and a very nice Vincent SV-400 Amplifier which will sound far far better. With the $500 left over I can then add a Yamaha WXAD-10 MusicCast Wireless Streaming Adapter and still have $300 left over.
Agreed. My Sonos sound like they are being played through a sock. And their software sucks (can't hold on to my (ok, somewhat dodgy) WiFi signal on the terrace, slow, and a closed ecosystem approach which I detest (eg. cannot Chromecast to the devices). I don't plan on buying any more and if there's a better HA solution I'm keen to understand it because certainly there are many better solutions sonically.
I’m not a Sonos fanboi, just pointed out an example of a company that discounts new releases to their existing customers.
Anyway, sound is in the ear of the beholder. They do sell like hot cakes, quality being as it may.
I've been buying audio hardware for many years...... never in my wildest dreams, even after reading George Orwell's 1984, did I believe I would have to get an account of any sort to use my speakers. And the company could unilaterally upgrade, down grade, disable your speakers just boggles my mind.
I understand most companies are moving to a subscription model and are successful because folks will grumble but give in and pay the price. I've not gotten to that point yet but I see it coming with Windows 10. For now I can only vote with my wallet 
Someone once said "... we have found the enemy and they are us..."
sorry for the rant
John
Yes 30% if you qualify - you need to have "legacy" speakers and you can replace them with the newer equivalent... but wait... they increased their prices this year so the discount is not really 30%.. wooohoo.
Don't get me wrong - I am all in with Sonos at this point. For non / semi-audiophile people who have money to throw around and just want things to work with less wires - it's an easy choice. Also I cannot speak to the quality of the internal components - the build quality is decent though.
edit: clarification - I am not one of those with money to throw around sadly. My path to Sonos was through my company where I am using the speakers as "demonstration models" for my residential clients. 
Up Front: I LOVE all my Sonos.
But: I bought them fully understanding what they were, and for that, I think they are for streaming Internet Audio from internet sources. Frankly, if you want Audiophile quality, then these aren't the speakers you are looking for.
I'd also arguably streaming from your local network is also a secondary purpose, in which well...again, you've got to know what you're buying.
If I want to listen to high fidelity, I'm going to use a component system with quality speakers and a solid clean amplifier. If however, I'm wandering around the house listening to Pandora, well, the Sonos is more than good enough.
As for "low quality junk", that's a bit subjective I suppose. For what they are, I think they are solidly built, and in my experience, they "just work".
Pricey? Yup, asbsolutely. Are there reasonable other options? Perhaps. I've not ever been a real fan of Bose sound, but a lot of people like Bose, so there's one option. Are Bose cheaper? Not in my experience, but that's based on my noise cancelling headphones, not any speaker experience.
For home automation speakers? With certain limitations, they work great.
If one was considering them for that purpose, I'd recommend the Symfonisk speakers at $99 each.
As for planned obsolescence. Yup irritating. Sign of the times. Having said that, my oldest useful Sonos is >5 years. Conversely, there's not a cell phone in my house that's even close, and my "Mid Range" cell phones certainly cost more than a Play:5, so I guess it depends on how you calculate value.
Just my opinion, but I think (for the most part) they're worth what you pay for them, particularly at the Symfonisk/Play 1 SL end of the range. I want them for background music though, and absolutely don't want Amazon/Google Home stuff built in. So, my requirements are no doubt different from others.
For the record, I don't like the "planned obsolescence", I don't like the choice they've made to focus on Amazon/Google integration over sound/cost...but so far, I've not seen or heard anything that works as well, and sounds as subjectively "good" as Sonos in the use case I have.
YMMV!
S.
exactly..., and keep in mind that your source material must also be audiophile quality, other wise it matters not honestly.
exactly again... I see folks getting all wrapped up around the axle about the sound quality of speaker xyz, only to find out their source material bit rate is 128K...
Pricing and company issues aside - It's a very functional system that just works and is very easy to set up and maintain.
I would be curious to see any articles on the lower quality internal components bit - not sure this is completely true but haven't really looked into it.
Exactly. I've had some of my (obsolete) units well over 10+ years. I find them inexpensive on an ROI bases.
Even at todays prices let's say $700/ 10 years $70/ 12 months $5.83 a month (which drops with each new year of use) Most here probably pay over that for just 1 streaming service.
Costs are relative IMO.
The really annoying thing was I bought my "legacy" Play:5's 3 years ago brand new from Sonos.. so there was no 5 year support for me.
An interesting followup story - In March I "replaced" the Play:5's with the "modern" ones and then a month later in May Sonos announces their updated models...arghhh!!!! After I complained their sales support did replace my speakers with new ones for the cost of shipping. I figured I had to do it otherwise risk falling behind the support curve... again.
A speaker / system should last many years.. as long as the hardware holds out and that was/is Sonos's miscalculation. It is ridiculous to expect otherwise especially when paying such a premium.
edit: sorry my dates were a little off during my rant.. has been corrected!
Glad to hear that swapped it out. I'd be pissed too on that one.
I agree with you - high quality speakers should last at least a decade.
I have the opposite experience with Sonos. My PlayBar and Sub date back to 2012 or 2013. I totally expected them to not be Sonos S2 compatible because I heard Sonos was coming out with a PlayBar replacement and the Sub has been updated already.
So I was shocked (but happy) when I found the S2 controller supported my old PlayBar and Sub.
Download the Hubitat app
