Not as big as other too big to fail companies. But still a better deal than the 200 employees.
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Sonos Lays Off 200 Employees After App Failure
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The new app was supposedly going to nudge users to upgrade to latest hardware, but backfired.
Always how it works. Doubly terrible because many of these people were pleading with leadership to not do this app release just to release the headphones. However, the CEO would’ve ate it with the board if he missed that timeline on the headphones. Lucky for him he bought 12 months of more compensation before facing the ire of the board and will likely land somewhere else in an executive role within a year.
The CEO didn't create the failed app. Those who are putting blame on him need to step back.
That being said, I hope the ones laid off weren't the developers. They rarely make any design decisions... they're just implementing the designs of the project managers. Thats likely the level where the whole process fell apart.. as usual... middle management.
That being said, I hope the ones laid off weren't the developers. They rarely make any design decisions... they're just implementing the designs of the project managers. Thats likely the level where the whole process fell apart.. as usual... middle management.
They cut 100 people August of 2024 also.
Stories were that the CEO did not listen to the people telling him the app was not ready. If true, he is fully responsible for the problems the company is now facing. Even if he was not aware, as the guy in charge, he is responsible. If CEOs are not held responsible for failures, they should not be rewarded for successes.
The fact that he was given a golden parachute is disgusting and an insult to every employee of that company.
Stories were that the CEO did not listen to the people telling him the app was not ready. If true, he is fully responsible for the problems the company is now facing. Even if he was not aware, as the guy in charge, he is responsible. If CEOs are not held responsible for failures, they should not be rewarded for successes.
The fact that he was given a golden parachute is disgusting and an insult to every employee of that company.
It goes lot deeper than CEO. Sonos had 20 years worth of technical debt. They were using 20 year old software with band aids. The sales were already sluggish and technical debt had to be eliminated. The app should have been delayed but their new product launches were delayed. People blame for dropping support for older apps/products or rewriting their underlying technology, but it’s better to mange every few years.
Haven't used my older Sonos 5? in ages. Just sits on my shelf collecting dust. Once and awhile I'll open the Mac app and play a song and be like... wow... sounds good, but doesn't work in my apple ecosystem. Oh well.
bLackjackj
macrumors 65816
No! It's definitely not the time, nor will it ever be.
was it really that hard to do git revert or redeploy an older version when they started getting overwhelmingly negative feedback from the customers?
The developers told them it was not ready and would miss critical features if they shipped. He decided to ship the product instead of finishing the app. That’s on the CEO. I’m not going to tolerate this kind of bootlicking when the postmortem on this failure is essentially public knowledge.
StoneJack
macrumors 68040
I tell you what Sonos had to do to avoid the disaster.
Instead of releasing half baked unified and dumbed down version of their software,
1. They had to keep the original app functional (don't fix if it is working)
2. And release in parallel a new app only for headphones, for example Sonos Headphones. It is not big deal because we rarely have to tinker with headphones maybe only for some EQ adjustment but that's it.
3. Meanwhile work on a new unified version to be released in 2 years, bug free and future oriented. Release IF needed by 2027.
And they would avoid the disaster.
Instead of releasing half baked unified and dumbed down version of their software,
1. They had to keep the original app functional (don't fix if it is working)
2. And release in parallel a new app only for headphones, for example Sonos Headphones. It is not big deal because we rarely have to tinker with headphones maybe only for some EQ adjustment but that's it.
3. Meanwhile work on a new unified version to be released in 2 years, bug free and future oriented. Release IF needed by 2027.
And they would avoid the disaster.
robfoll
Contributor
Such a tragic end-game, I have quite a lot of Sonos products and I really like them. Overall functionality is great and I think in general the sound quality is good for the price if not better than expected. Luckily none of the app problems have affected my system and I will certainly buy some more Sonos in future if they keep delivering good products. But as everyone said it's sad 200 employees paid a price for poor management decisions.
maxoakland
macrumors 68000
Probably a mistake since the failure of that app was likely caused by poor management, not bad programming. The CEO and executives directly on that project should be the ones on the chopping block, most likely
code-m
Suspended
code-m
Suspended
I wouldn’t touch Sonos products if it was 50% off. No physical remote unless this has changed recently, no thanks. Having an app is fine but it’s should be complimentary. Why do these companies overthink and over-engineer simple things only to revert to what made the product segment approachable and usable to a laymen.
That’s exactly what we need smart everything, brilliant marketing gimmick when the electricity goes out, internet goes out, get hacked, Mother Nature strikes and the customer is left playing tech support trying to figure this stuff out while wifi waves are being concentrated with everything smart.
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2128506
macrumors 6502
They should call it "The Box Tom Conrad Signature Edition"!
P.S. Every time when i was considering Sonos products, was put off by the price not justifying quality and features. Now we know, all that inflated pricing goes to CEO golden parachutes...
Can anyone else explain - people with actual knowledge (not armchair quarterbacks), why would they lay off hardware people while software people fix an app? Hardware R&D won’t stop at every other competitor. Literally lay people off?
New CEO and layoffs? They’re probably trying to make their cashflow look good before being sold.
What a useful way to hide your poor declining sales from investors, use an app you messed up as an excuse. I can see Sonos folding one day in the not too distant future.
F23
macrumors 65816
laptech
Suspended
I bet the usual happened, CEO makes a bad decision, their decision causes product failure resulting in it customer base being extremely unhappy. CEO falls on their sword and resigns with a nice leaving pay cheque. New CEO comes in to clear up the mess resulting hundreds of job losses.
CEO's are never the ones to suffer, it is always the employee's they screwed over that are the ones that suffer.
CEO's are never the ones to suffer, it is always the employee's they screwed over that are the ones that suffer.