Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Sonos CEO Steps Down Following Disastrous App Redesign

I’ve never seen apologies work for CEOs at this level. The adage ‘never apologize, never explain’ may not be kind, moral, or feel right, but it’s undeniably better practice if you want to avoid ending up as a complete failure.
 
The app sucks. That said, I've really liked having options to choose from a few different assistants that I might want to use, and having them work as airplay speakers makes them superior to Homepods.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Hank001
MacRumors said:
The company's revenue subsequently declined by 16% in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2024, with analysts projecting a further 15% drop for the critical holiday period. Sonos's stock price fell approximately 13% following the app update's release.
Click to expand...
I guess no one in a position of power seriously suggested "hey, let's make sure this new update isn't terrible" before pushing it out, huh? What an expensive oversight. 😅
 
  • Like
Reactions: arc of the universe
I was someone who was somewhat interested in their products the past few years, and was genuinely curious about purchasing one In the coming years. And this situation definitely made me decide not to ever do so.

I don’t mean that out of dramatics, I just have a personal issue with the way modern software works (“hey we didn’t tell you in the change log but we changed everything and you can’t go back. Even though it worked fine”) and industry wide it seems to only be getting worse. Really glad to see real pushback and effects come from this.
 
  • Like
  • Love
Reactions: HazeAndHahmahneez and EedyBeedyBeeps
I was looking to upgrade my Playbar/ Play:1's to the new Arc Ultra plus 100's or 300's. That is until I did some reading about Sonos. I hadn't been in the loop for 5 years since my system sounded great, and worked without an issue. But it was time for Atmos. I was surprised how this company turned into a train wreck. So I'm waiting for my Samsung Q990 to ship. Maybe I will peek in again in five or so years.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MaximizedAction
carniesandrubes said:
Be careful what you wish for.

Eventual new CEO: "Sonos is not an audio company. It's an AI company. We'll tell you what you want to listen to. Besides, nobody cares about audio quality anymore."
Click to expand...
We have laid off all staff for curating and surfacing new content; our AI model will determine what you want to listen to. We also laid off the hardware engineering team, the AI model be able to determine the best frequency your speakers sound at any point during the music.
 
  • Like
Reactions: MaximizedAction
Kottu said:
Listen to your customers. If few are complaining, it doesn't matter for a while. But when thousands are pointing out the same issues, you should listen at once.
Sonos could solve this issue at once. They could release the older version of app and correct the issues with the new one. Instead, they made it look like they have deleted all backups and now customers should live with it. It's something like Apple did with headphone jack. But Apple did release wireless headsets which works far better than any other headsets with iPhone and you could use a wired lightning headset or use a damn good DAC from Apple.
Click to expand...
Bringing back the previous software could legitimately be very hard. The old software may not be compatible with the new hardware released since the new software came out (Ace, Arc Ultra). So, to bring back the old software, said old software would need to be enhanced to support the new hardware first.
 
Kottu said:
Listen to your customers. If few are complaining, it doesn't matter for a while. But when thousands are pointing out the same issues, you should listen at once.
Sonos could solve this issue at once. They could release the older version of app and correct the issues with the new one. Instead, they made it look like they have deleted all backups and now customers should live with it. It's something like Apple did with headphone jack. But Apple did release wireless headsets which works far better than any other headsets with iPhone and you could use a wired lightning headset or use a damn good DAC from Apple.
Click to expand...

If they went back there'd be uproar from some quarters, and then more uproar when they went forward again. There's always uproar. They might as well stay the course now. The new app has improved a lot, and is better designed than the old one IMHO. The forum griping I see now about Sonos seems to be just standard background level stuff, energised by re-litigating what happened before. I mean people used to gripe and moan about the last app a lot too.
 
One app screw up and they got rid of him with no consideration whatsoever for all the brand loyalty he built since the inception.
It’d have made more sense if he was ousted right after the complaints started pouring in but all these months later? Doesn’t make sense.

I’d prefer for him to stay on and fix what’s broken. He knows the products inside out. Contrary to others I’ve had app issues with old one much more than I’ve had one with the new and I rarely had to use either one to actually enjoy my full home theater setup.
 
jazzzyJeff said:
One app screw up and they got rid of him with no consideration whatsoever for all the brand loyalty he built since the inception.
It’d have made more sense if he was ousted right after the complaints started pouring in but all these months later? Doesn’t make sense.

I’d prefer for him to stay on and fix what’s broken. He knows the products inside out. Contrary to others I’ve had app issues with old one much more than I’ve had one with the new and I rarely had to use either one to actually enjoy my full home theater setup.
Click to expand...
He dropped the value of the company by 16%. Do you think any company would give an employee a pass if they caused that?
 
  • Love
  • Like
Reactions: arc of the universe and HazeAndHahmahneez
Brian_v11 said:
He dropped the value of the company by 16%. Do you think any company would give an employee a pass if they caused that?
Click to expand...
If you think all stocks only go up or that no company’s stock has ever dropped 16% overnight then you haven’t paid any attention to the market.
I’m sure you’re familiar with Musk and Tesla stock.
 
  • Disagree
Reactions: miq
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back