Apple cuts ties with Sonos and other audio retailers — it's going 100% DIY

The only jam in this store... is apple. Like a bad-tempered college RA, Apple's shutting down the speakers (except for its own). Apple has long sold 3rd-party hardware on its site — now it's giving "outsider" audio devices the boot. It's also telling employees to remove them from physical stores, leaving 0 memories of the brands it's breaking up with:

• Sonos’ smart speaker had to move out of Apple's stores, pushing Sonos stock down 7% yesterday.
• Logitech’s speakers also got the boot, driving the stock down 6% while "Sad Tunez" played.
• Bose's headphones and speakers were dumped, too.

You came in like a wrecking ball... For a while, there was speculation that Apple could acquire Sonos, just like it snatched up Beats in 2014 (#putaringonit). The potential of an Apple-cquisition boosted Sonos stock. Apple just killed that dream, so Sonos stock plunged. Apple is clearing out its drawers to make space for its new (Apple-only) audio babies:

• AirPods Studio: Apple's 1st over-ear headphones could turn up at its big hardware event on October 13th.
• HomePod: Apple is also expected to drop a smaller version of its smart speaker.