Sonos CEO leaves company over botched iOS app

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Posted:
in General Discussion edited January 13

Patrick Spence has left Sonos after eight years as CEO, following the disastrous rollout of an iOS app that left customers unable to use their devices.

The updated Sonos app for iOS
The updated Sonos app for iOS



Spence was originally the deputy to Sonos founder John MacFarlane, and took over the role of CEO from him in 2017. Unfortunately, his most visible impact has been the release of the revamped and subsequently failed iOS app.

Now according to Bloomberg, Patrick Spence has left Sonos. It's now been revealed that he has resigned the post, while the company has promoted board member Tom Conrad to the post of interim CEO.

Conrad's promotion and the search for a permanent CEO that has now begun, follows the company's release of the new app in May 2024. The app set out to have fewer controls in order to streamline the experience of accessing streaming content via the app itself.

Significantly, the new app replaced the old controller, and Sonos intended to discontinue its previous apps.

However, by July, CEO Spence was acknowledging that users had "experienced significant problems" with the app.

"I want to begin by personally apologizing for disappointing you," he said. "There isn't an employee at Sonos who isn't pained by having let you down, and I assure you that fixing the app for all of our customers and partners has been and continues to be our number one priority."

The app proved to be unstable, as well as missing key features from the previous versions. Sonos initially tried dismissing the issues, and saying that everything would be fixed with a series of updates over time.

Later as complaints continued, and multiple updates failed to resolve problems, there was pressure for Sonos to simply revert to the old app. However in August 2024, Spence claimed that despite his having hoped to roll back to the old version, too many changes had been made to Sonos's systems.

"The trick of course is that Sonos is not just a mobile app, but software that runs on your speakers and in the cloud too," Spence said. "In the months since the new mobile app launched we've been updating the software that runs on our speakers and in the cloud to the point where today S2 [the previous app] is less reliable & less stable then what you remember."

While the company has been under the spotlight for its software since the failed app launched, it has also continued to release new hardware. While some projected launches were postponed because of the app situation, in December 2024, the company launched its Sonos Sub 4 subwoofer.

Updated: 12:20 PM Eastern with the confirmed detail that Spence resigned his post.



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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 10
    sbdudesbdude Posts: 301member

    The app controls in order to streamline the experience of accessing streaming content via the app itself.

    What does that sentence mean?
    stevemebswilliamlondonwatto_cobra
     2Likes 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 2 of 10
    StrangeDaysstrangedays Posts: 13,142member
    All he had to tell was tell them to wait. 

    Oh more. More CEOs should be fired when they fork up. That’s what the insane money is for. 
    edited January 13
    OctoMonkeydewmewatto_cobrabyronl
     4Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 3 of 10
    jamnapjamnap Posts: 104member
    I was really angry with the App fiasco and pledged to dump Sonos.  But after some deep thinking and my ten years love of my 14-set Sonos system, I decided to keep everything.  I have been slowly upgrading all speakers to the latest models by using the Sonos 15% trade-in promotion and some great holiday sale pricing.  I am hoping Apple will buy Sonos: it would be a great fit in to the Apple product line (my Move 2 is so much better than HomePod gen 2).
    byronl
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 4 of 10
    I stopped using their app once they began supporting AirPlay.
    appleinsideruserwilliamlondonwatto_cobrabyronl
     3Likes 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 5 of 10
    All he had to tell was tell them to wait. 

    Oh more. More CEOs should be fired when they fork up. That’s what the insane money is for. 
    When they massively screw up, both CEOs and government officials should be fired instead of being allowed to resign...  and in my opinion needs to happen with some regularity.  How some of these people are considered adequately competent for the jobs they hold is beyond me.  If the board does not fire them, the board needs to be replaced, en masse!
    edited January 13
    elijahgwatto_cobrabyronl
     3Likes 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 6 of 10
    charlesncharlesn Posts: 1,312member
    Hmmmm... the explanation for his departure doesn't quite pass the smell test. By all accounts, and it certainly reflects my own experience with the app, Sonos has made great progress in getting it fixed. So why fire him now for the botched app rollout? My guess is that the holiday quarter, despite the rollout of new products, wasn't great. I received a discount offer from Sonos on the new Arc Ultra and my first thought was, "You're discounting this already? That's not good." The original Arc, upon release, was backordered for weeks and weeks. And this would be on top of the failed Ace headphones launch this summer. The company said his departure had nothing to do with the holiday quarter, but they also refused to provide any update on that quarter until they announce results on Feb 6th. I suspect it will be disappointing and they felt the only way forward was with a completely fresh start. I like the idea of Apple buying Sonos, especially at the currently depressed share price. (Perhaps more depressed after holiday earnings are announced.) Sonos has always been viewed as "the Apple" of home theater speaker systems, so the brands align well. This would give Apple a foothold into the home theater segment where it currently has no offerings other than the Apple TV STB, 
    nubusmuthuk_vanalingamwatto_cobrabyronl
     3Likes 0Dislikes 1Informative
  • Reply 7 of 10
    nubusnubus Posts: 686member
    When they massively screw up, both CEOs and government officials should be fired instead of being allowed to resign...  and in my opinion needs to happen with some regularity.  How some of these people are considered adequately competent for the jobs they hold is beyond me.  If the board does not fire them, the board needs to be replaced, en masse!
    Fail fast is at the core of being agile. I would say he did the right thing. Communication was open and Sonos rapidly delivered improvements. And the hardware... while even Apple reissued (yes!) HomePod and AirPods Max we have seen great products from Sonos.

    Should we have demanded for Jobs to leave after the Cube, or when he delayed and later downgraded performance of all new PowerMac G4 models by 10-15%? Replacing the CEO is not always the answer. Perhaps replace the board instead or accept that even the best plans can fail?
    dewmewilliamlondon
     1Like 1Dislike 0Informatives
  • Reply 8 of 10
    It isn’t just the iPhone app that’s crap.
    The Mac interface was also “two steps forward, one step back” when it was “updated”.

    watto_cobra
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 9 of 10
    I am not sure he is leaving over the app

    I think Sonos has a problem with it’s business model that the current CEO hasn’t solved reflected by its flat revenue and share price 
    watto_cobra
     1Like 0Dislikes 0Informatives
  • Reply 10 of 10
    Don't know why.

    The update was fine UNTIL THE FIRST TIME I LAUNCHED IT.

    Then it DELETED my home, all my speakers, everything.

    AND I HAD TO FACTORY RESET EVERY SINGLE SPEAKER to add them to the new app.

    Even then EACH AND EVERY SPEAKER WAS AUTOMATICALLY ADDED TO A DIFFERENT ROOM NOT OF MY CHOOSING.

    On second thought, firing is too good for him.
    dewmewilliamlondonTS007watto_cobra
     2Likes 1Dislike 1Informative
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