Sonos CEO finally steps down following app redesign debacle
Patrick Spence is stepping down as CEO of Sonos Inc. after eight years, following a controversial app update that alienated customers and hindered the company’s expansion.
Mark Gurman for Bloomberg News:
The audio technology company named Tom Conrad, a board member and former executive at Snap Inc. and the Pandora music streaming service, as interim CEO effective Monday and said the company has hired a firm to find a new leader.
The decision to tap a new CEO comes after several months of turmoil at Sonos. In May, the company rolled out a new mobile app — the software consumers use to control their speakers and other equipment — that was riddled with bugs. Among the problems, the user interface confused customers, lost key accessibility features, and removed capabilities like the sleep timer and alarms.
Customers complained that they, in some cases, spent tens of thousands of dollars outfitting their homes with pricey Sonos speaker systems, only for them to no longer work as expected because of the app. The revamp was originally meant to modernize the design and better support a new range of hardware offerings, but it didn’t go smoothly. Though the company investigated the idea of switching back to the old app, it determined that such a move wasn’t possible because of the engineering challenges.
For months, Sonos and Spence worked to fix the problems and restore features, but the damage was done to the company’s brand. The crisis also marred the launch of new products like the Ace headphones. Revenue fell 16% in the fiscal fourth quarter, which ended Sept. 28, and Wall Street is projecting a 15% decline in the holiday period.
MacDailyNews Take: The super-slow-motion car crash finally comes to rest. Took long enough, but it’s nice to see accountability rear its pretty head for a change.
In a properly functioning company, with a properly functioning board of directors, CEO Patrick Spence would’ve been out on his ass long ago (re: floating to earth under his golden parachute). Instead, he’s still there “leading Sonos” with all of his “decision-making capabilities” primed to detonate yet again. – MacDailyNews, September 23, 2024
Buh-bye.
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