Sonos, the famous speaker maker, announced that its CEO, Patrick Spence, has resigned after much backlash from a problematic app update last year. The update caused problems for customers and delayed product launches, leading to the change in leadership.
The company announced yesterday that board member Tom Conrad, 55, will serve as interim CEO, effective immediately. He is an outgoing CEO of Zero Longevity Science, which develops health apps. His appointment comes at a critical time, as Sonos seeks to regain the trust of its customers and refocus development.
The App Update That Started Crisis
In May of last year, Sonos launched a new app that was supposed to update its interface and support a new range of hardware. However, the update was full of bugs. Users were unable to access basic functionalities such as searching their music libraries, setting sleep timers, or even downloading the app.
It was a big setback for many loyal customers who had spent thousands of dollars in the Sonos system when the malfunctioning app took center stage. Reverting to the old app, the company felt, was out of the question, thanks to technical complications. Instead, the company committed itself to addressing problems in the new platform and estimated the cost of repairs between $20 million and $30 million.
The app’s failure sparked widespread condemnation, with various customers expressing irritation at the degraded functionality of their premium speaker systems. The financial impact wasn’t limited to trust in the products, but to the workforce: the company vowed to cut nearly 6% of its workers as a direct result of its financial stress.
In October, Spence publicly recognized the mishaps that surrounded the launch of the app. He, with seven other executives, publicly showed accountability by agreeing to forego their respective annual bonuses. The damage was too heavy on the company’s reputation and to the internal morale, paving the way to the point Spence would resign.
Difficult Road Ahead
These are the two biggest challenges for Sonos now: refocusing customer trust and firming up internal operations. Tom Conrad will continue to lead Sonos into fixing these issues, focusing on ensuring that new devices are properly integrated.
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