Sonos is suffering from a leadership crisis. Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg
Sonos – the much-maligned home audio company – remains mired in a crisis of its own making. The botched launch of its new app isn’t just a technical glitch – it’s a full-blown “app-ocalypse” that reveals a leadership team that’s out of touch with reality and overwhelmed.
15.3 million households rely on the company’s products, but Sonos’ mismanagement of the new app’s rollout has left its most loyal customers – myself included – questioning whether the company still values the quality and user experience on which its brand was built.
As a Sonos customer with a 22-speaker setup, including a Sonos Amp and Boost, I experienced the frustration firsthand. What was supposed to be an upgrade turned into an ordeal because the app didn’t even provide the basic features that made Sonos systems so reliable.
Imagine investing in a top-notch audio setup only to have a buggy update render it nearly unusable. For a company whose reputation is built on quality, that’s unacceptable. It’s about as acceptable as buying a Bruce Springsteen album without guitars or drums. And it’s been that way for months.
The App-ocalypse: A leadership failure
The magnitude of this failure cannot be overstated. Customers have spent months struggling with issues that should have been uncovered by basic quality control.
From connection errors to the app forgetting entire system settings, these aren’t just bugs – they’re symptomatic of a rushed product that wasn’t ready for release. And let’s not forget the loss of previously essential features, a step backwards that makes users feel like beta testers for a product they paid a premium for. I can’t tell you how many times my speakers are missing or the sound cuts out.
Sonos CEO Patrick Spence commented on the situation, saying, “We recognize that the recent app update fell short of our users’ expectations. We are committed to improving the experience and have made restoring the functionality our customers rely on a top priority.”
However, that July 25, 2024 apology came months after the app was released, when the damage was already done. Spence’s delayed response only underscores the leadership vacuum that caused the situation to spiral out of control.
The decision to release the app in its current state raises critical questions about Sonos’ leadership. Every technology company is under constant pressure to innovate and bring new products to market. But innovation without regard for superiority – or basic quality assurance – is a recipe for disaster.
It seems that Sonos’ leadership was more concerned with meeting deadlines for the release of the new headphone product than with having the app ready for prime time. This kind of shortsightedness turns loyal customers into former customers.
Dismissed employees
Internally, the consequences were serious.
Over 100 employees—7% of Sonos’ workforce—were recently laid off, possibly due to the botched launch of the app.
But this is not just a technical problem; it is a leadership problem, and the costs are borne by employees who may have had nothing to do with the decisions.
In the technology world, layoffs are often the result of mismanagement, and in this case, the message from Sonos leadership is clear: The company’s employees are expendable, but the buggy app’s timeline is not.
The irony is that Sonos built its brand on the idea of seamless, high-quality audio experiences. That’s why I’ve been such a loyal customer for many years, and why the failure of this app is so glaring.
For a company that has invested heavily in research and development—over $1.2 billion over the past five years, according to its 2024 investor presentation—this debacle is a major blow to its credibility. Customers trusted Sonos to not only deliver great sound, but to fit seamlessly into their lives.
The app should have been the linchpin of this experience, not the weak link, not the “apocalypse.”
A large and growing customer base is at risk
With products in millions of homes around the world, Sonos has a huge customer base. But loyalty has its limits.
When customers invest in premium products, they expect premium service and functionality. If Sonos fails to meet those expectations, it risks undermining the foundation of its brand. The company has created a plan for bug fixes. Updates are expected throughout the rest of 2024 to address stability issues and restore key features. (Hello, edit queue?)
But for many, this may be too little, too late. Moreover, the damage to Sonos’ reputation could extend beyond the app.
Handling this situation incorrectly could negatively impact future product launches and investor relations. If customers cannot trust that new features will work smoothly, they may be hesitant to invest in the brand’s upcoming hardware offerings, no matter how innovative they claim to be. The risk is not only losing customers, but also losing market trust and EBITDA – which is far more difficult to restore.
Turning things around will require a fundamental reassessment of leadership priorities and a refocus on the values that have made Sonos a trusted name in home audio. That means not just fixing the app, but reevaluating the processes that allowed such a flawed product to reach consumers in the first place.
This situation should serve as a case study for a debriefing. (I also volunteer to conduct this debriefing.)
The big picture: Implementation of leadership is important
Ultimately, this situation is a stark reminder that leadership is not just about having a vision; it is also about executing it with precision and care.
If execution falters, the impact will be far-reaching. Sonos now has a choice: learn from this debacle and correct its leadership culture—and its collaboration processes—for the future, or risk being left behind in the increasingly competitive smart home audio market.
The “App-ocalypse” is more than just a setback – it is a defining moment that will determine the future of Sonos.
Will they learn from their mistakes or will this mark the beginning of a decline for a brand that once set the standard in home audio?
The next few months will be crucial for the continued development of the app and the company’s overall approach to innovation, corporate culture and customer trust.
