Sonos CEO calls it quits after unsuccessful app launch

Faulty app updates, delayed product launches, and a CEO who stepped down.

After eight years as Chief Executive Officer of Sonos Inc., Patrick Spence is leaving the company.

Starting Monday, he will temporarily be replaced by Tom Conrad, a former executive at Snap Inc. and the Pandora music streaming service, while the company looks for a permanent director.

The change takes place after Sonos experienced a fiasco when launching an app update back in May.

Users reported that the app was lagging and crashing, so they were unable to use their devices.

One solution to this problem was to return the old version of the app. However, it was soon discovered that Sonos was unable to do that.

Despite Sonos's CEO being open about the recurring problems, the situation didn’t improve, with the audio manufacturer having to even delay the release of its latest products.

The unsuccessful release of the Sonos app and the company’s inability to take care of the issue disappointed many of its users.

Multiple users reported that they were unable to control their speakers and equipment because of a changed user interface and unresponsive accessibility features. They also shared that they can’t no longer set features like the sleep timer or an alarm.

Despite the company trying to fix the problem for months, the damage to the brand was already done with the now-former CEO also being criticized for taking too long to apologize to customers.

It’s been reported that Sonos’ revenue fell 16% in the fiscal fourth quarter, and its stock price has fallen about 13% since the launch of the app. The company also had to fire around 100 employees in August.

Conrad, the newly appointed Sonos CEO, told employees that he’s ready to bring the company back on track and even expand it further, reports Bloomberg.