OPINION: Audio giant Sonos endured a shocking fall from grace in 2024. And it started with taking its most loyal users for granted. Let the fall of CEO Patrick Spence be a lesson to other tech companies: don’t mess with people’s favourite apps!
It started with an app refresh. It happens all the time, every single day tech companies tweak, revamp and relaunch their digital companions. But not since the frankly laughable Apple Maps rollout in iOS 6 over a decade ago, can I remember release as disastrous as Sonos’ May 2024 update that succeeded the S2 app.
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Sonos’ decision to release a rebuilt new app without the foundations to keep the house standing, shattered trust in the company among both loyal users and potential newcomers it has been trying to court by expanding the product line. It could not have gone worse.
The app brazenly cast away beloved features, like the sleep timer and playlist editing, and messed-up local music libraries, dispensed with saved radio stations and even hindered basic features like grouping speakers and controlling their volume. And, worse still, there was no way back for users who’d updated the app.
In August, the company said it couldn’t re-release the old app because it would have made matters worse. In October, the company was still publishing roadmaps for recovery.
As the malaise continued, the workforce was trimmed and the company announced it was losing money; thanks in no small part to the poor sales performance of the Sonos Ace headphones that encouraged the hasty app update in the first place. The Verge’s sources say “sales numbers remain dismal.”
Recovery from the error has been so painfully slow that someone had to take the wrap. A clearly out-of-touch CEO was the one to fall on the sword. The app should never have made it into the wild and an in-tune leader wouldn’t have let it. Once the deed was done, there were too many apologies, not enough action and a clear sense that the rot had set in. He had to go.
Avoidable faux-pas
This will go down as one of the most avoidable faux pas in modern tech history. The mighty Sonos, which pioneered great-sounding wireless audio throughout the home, floored by the app that underpinned it all and, in truth, had very little wrong with it?
It’s a lesson for all tech companies not to take your loyal base for granted as there’s a limit to the loyalty if you stray too far from what encouraged that loyalty in the first place. The familiar functionality, the years of things just working, of knowing where everything is.
The best way to user in new functionality, and new users, into the fold by integrating them into the way things have always worked. Don’t put barriers in the way. Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, and definitely don’t throw speaker in with a baby and the bathwater.
It appears Sonos employees have been as frustrated as users with the malaise. A letter to staff from the man charged with steadying the ship at least acknowledges that.
“I’ve heard from many of you about your own frustrations about how far we’ve drifted from our shared ideals,” said interim CEO Tom Conrad when addressing employees this week.
“There’s a tremendous amount of work in front of us, including what I’m sure will be some very challenging moments, decisions, and trade-offs, but I’m energised by the passion I see all around me for doing right by our customers and getting back to the innovation that is at the heart of Sonos’ incredible history.”
There is a long road back for Sonos, but it’s not the end of the road. The hardware is, as its ever been, up there with the best consumer audio tech has to offer.
Once user trust has been broken, it’s often difficult to restore. The one thing Sonos has going for it right now? Who’s gonna go to the lengths of replacing all of those expensive speakers and soundbars because the app’s crap?
