Sonos has had a bad summer . It has n’t been a specially gentle few year for the upscale wireless audio companionship — its stock is basically one - third of where it was in early 2021 — but this summer has been specially beastly .
For those of us on the consumer side of thing , 2024 started moderately optimistically . Sonosin November 2023 start up teasingthat the following year would see new products in novel categories . Headphones almost certainly were one of them — coming after years of leak and rumour . What ultimately became theSonos Acewere a long time coming . They turned out to be very good headphones , and an important product class for Sonos .
But just before the headphones were announced , Sonos launch a major update to its app . The public discussion at the metre was that this was more of a ocular update . But it did n’t storm anyone that it ’d also contain the underpinnings of code to endure these Modern headphones .
Sonos is n’t an inexpensive brand , but it ’s also been a bit of a magic one because it always just worked . You ’d have speakers all over your sign — I ’ve had a couple outside for years — and music would bring wherever you wanted it to , whenever you wanted it to .
Thenthings started pass away wrong for Sonos . Very untimely . Everyone ’s situation is dissimilar , of course . Different single Sonos speakers . Differentgenerationsof speakers . Differing speaker system union . Different music services . Butissues seemed nearly universal . Maybe it was a favorite feature that go away — something as bare as a slumber timer . Or maybe you ’d struggle to get music to play at all . I found a small respite in a third - company app , but that ’s not a good answer .
Sonos , for its part , fairly apace started addressing concernsin the Sonos subreddit . That ’s ok for the super online , but not great for most normal folk . CEO Patrick Spencefinally in public acknowledged the issuesin a blog post in July — some two calendar month after we ’d all been suffering . And the app matter dominated Sonos ’ net profit call on August 7 , 2024 , with Spence announcing thattwo new intersection would be detain , and the company was plan on spending $ 20 million to $ 30 million to repair things .
He also read the following : “ We are enacting program this quarter to both bread and butter and thank our customers and partners for sticking with us through this catamenia , and turn their dissatisfaction to delight . ”
I do n’t know exactly what that intend . I do n’t have any thought how Sonos might be able to “ enchant ” customers after what they ’ve been subjected to this summertime . Presumably Sonos will secern us at some point .
But I do have a couple of motion .
Will we be asked to spend even more money?
A vulgar train of thought is that Sonos — which historically has n’t been huge into rebate but lighten up up on that front a fleck in the past couple of geezerhood — could give current customers the power to kick upstairs products at a pretty exorbitant haircut .
That ’s not nothing . But the more misanthropic view is that you ’re being compensated for Sonos ’ major missteps by being given the opportunity to spend more money . With Sonos .
On the other hand , we bang Sonos has fresh products coming out — because this whole debacle has delayed two of them , which the company has said are quick to go . And a 50 % ( or more ? ) rebate would be really hard to communicate up , give that Sonos never does deals like that .
Will Patrick Spence keep his job?
I ’ll let in I feel a little uncanny even asking this . I do n’t typically handle who the CEO is of a companionship . I mostly tenacious for the days in which we did n’t even screw who the CEO was , because they were too busy being the CEO to care about being a part of the zeitgeist .
Nor do I especially like about the business side of thing . Has Spence done well during his land tenure ? believably . Otherwise he would n’t have been elevate from principal commercial ship’s officer to CEO , and he would n’t have been at Sonos for a dozen years now .
This software package drubbing has been amajordebacle . That should n’t be understate . Some of the fallout can be measured . Spence aver the company is spending between $ 20 million and $ 30 million to rectify thing . Details on what that in reality means were a little undecipherable . Is that $ 20 million or more being pass on computer software engineers and everything else it take to build a program ? Or is it something else ?
Sonos said that ’s in reality less than the expected loss of revenue from delay two products that apparently are ledge - ready . That ’s a vast deal give out into the vacation buying time of year .
And keep in judgement that we ’re probably not just talking about post out a press expiration announcing a couple of new products , then selling them on the website . Sonos normally does pressure consequence for major launches . That ’s an total round that ’ll have to be reboot and rescheduled .
“ While the redesign of the app was , and remains , the ripe matter to do , our execution — my execution — fell short of the mark , ” Spence said in the earnings call . “ Since I took over as CEO , one of my particular point of accent has been the imperative form for Sonos to move faster . That is what led to my promise to give birth at least two new products every class — a promise we have successfully deliver on . With the app , however , my pushing for stop number backlash . ”
How did Spence — and he almost certainly was n’t the only one — not acknowledge that running into a wall head first was a bad mind ? It ’s not like the musical theme of moving too fast for one ’s own good is new to the tech space .
Spence should get some credit for taking responsibility . But that ’s the chore . That ’s what ’s expect of the someone in charge .
But when thing go really , really incorrect , as they did in May for Sonos , you should also not be surprised to see someone else in billing , once all the dust settee .
What do we deserve?
Sonos is in a weird bit . It already has our money in that we ’ve buy speaker unit — or a number of speakers — over the years . And up until May , they make very , very well . But for as much as the caller talks about a flywheel , it does n’t really have customer in a recurring revenue situation . There ’s no subscription fee to use Sonos , nor should there ever be .
And Sonos does n’t owe current customers new hardware for its software trip . That ’s just not naturalistic . Discounts on new ironware would serve , but not really address the elephant in the way .
The matter of Spence is one for shareholder , not customer . ( Though the latter should shape the former . )
The question , really , is what Sonos can do to regain trust . It call for to prepare its app , and the stability of the Sonos scheme as a whole . And it need to ensure that stableness . I ’m sure that will go on . The question is how long it will take , and how many more bad headlines it ’ll have to last in the meantime .
We can put a $ 20 million to $ 30 million price tag on that corporate trust . But that ’s just what it ’s be to fix thing . What the hereafter will cost for Sonos ? That remains to be catch .
