Sonos CEO Patrick Spence has resigned after an unsuccessful redesign of the company's app. Before that, he had been in the position for 8 years. Mark Gurman of Bloomberg writes about this.
The company has appointed Tom Conrad as interim CEO and is actively looking for a candidate. Spence's dismissal was prompted by the unsuccessful launch of the updated Sonos mobile app in May 2024.
BREAKING: Sonos CEO is out after the failed app revamp that led to a customer revolt and declining revenue. “We’ve let far too many people down,” interim CEO Tom Conrad tells the company. https://t.co/awsKSJeN75
BREAKING: Sonos CEO is out after the failed app revamp that led to a customer revolt and declining revenue. “We’ve let far too many people down,” interim CEO Tom Conrad tells the company. https://t.co/awsKSJeN75
— Mark Gurman (@markgurman) January 13, 2025The update was aimed at improving the software and adding support for the company's first headphones, the Sonos Ace, which were supposed to be competitors to Apple's AirPods Max. However, the app encountered numerous technical problems: many features did not work, the app did not sync with Sonos devices, and it drained smartphones excessively.
The company's revenue decreased by 16% in the fourth fiscal quarter of 2024, and analysts predict a further 15% decline during the holiday season. The Sonos share price fell by about 13% after the update was released.
Sonos has taken steps to address the issues with the new app, including restoring some of the removed features and promising to fix all bugs. Spence publicly apologized to customers, acknowledging the company's mistakes and presenting an improvement plan, but restoring his reputation proved to be a difficult task.
The company has also faced internal problems, including a delay in new product launches, the cancellation of an Apple TV-like set-top box project, and the layoff of about 100 employees in August 2024.
The company's current CEO, Tom Conrad, has served on the Sonos board of directors since 2017. Conrad was one of the creators of the Pandora music service and a vice president at Snap.