Sonos CEO to step down after disastrous app overhaul

Sonos Chief Executive Patrick Spence is stepping down and leaving the company’s committee successful a shake-up that comes arsenic the wireless talker shaper tries to triumph backmost the spot of its customers.

Last year, the Santa Barbara-based institution botched the overhaul of its telephone app that customers usage to power their speakers and different audio products. The misstep and bumbled efforts to close it, which near galore incapable to enactment their speakers, infuriated the brand’s loyal customers and took a toll connected the company’s bottommost line.

Spence, who has led Sonos for 8 years, volition beryllium employed with the institution until June 30 and supply strategical advisory services, according to a regulatory filing. He volition person a currency severance outgo of $1.9 million.

Tom Conrad, a longtime Sonos committee member, volition service arsenic the interim main executive.

Sonos said Monday successful a quality merchandise that it’s moving with an enforcement hunt steadfast to find a caller main enforcement “who volition physique connected the Sonos bequest of innovation and excellence successful serving its customers portion besides driving profitable growth.”

Conrad, 55, served arsenic main enforcement of Zero Longevity Science and antecedently worked successful enforcement roles astatine Quibi, the short-lived streaming platform, Snap and Pandora Media. He volition person $175,000 per period arsenic Sonos’ interim CEO and beryllium awarded $2.65 cardinal of Sonos restricted banal units.

“I americium profoundly honored to measurement into this relation astatine specified an important infinitesimal for Sonos,” Conrad said successful a statement. “Nearly 2 decades ago, erstwhile I led the earliest inaugural to integrate Pandora and Sonos, I got my archetypal glimpse of the magic that Sonos could bring to millions of lives each day.”

In a enactment to unit that Conrad posted astir connected the societal media tract X, formerly known arsenic Twitter, the enforcement besides acknowledged the struggles the institution has faced.

“I’ve heard from galore of you astir your ain frustrations astir however acold we’ve drifted from our shared ideals,” helium wrote successful the note. “There’s a tremendous magnitude of enactment successful beforehand of us, including what I’m definite volition beryllium immoderate precise challenging moments, decisions, and trade-offs...”

Sonos’ app debacle has been costly. The institution said past twelvemonth it would put betwixt $20 cardinal and $30 cardinal to hole the app and supply much lawsuit support, make a lawsuit advisory committee and widen its warranty for definite products, among different changes. Executives pledged to forgo their yearly bonuses if the program failed.

In August, the institution said it would laic disconnected 100 employees, which amounted to 6% of its workforce.

And Sonos, which competes against Amazon, Bose, Apple and different tech giants that marque astute speakers, has seen its banal driblet astir 9% implicit the past 12 months. On Monday afternoon, shares of the institution were trading astatine $14.30.

The company’s gross besides declined past twelvemonth adjacent arsenic it released caller products specified arsenic its archetypal brace of headphones and a caller soundbar. In 2024, Sonos reported fiscal twelvemonth gross of $1.52 billion, a alteration of 8% from 2023. The company’s nett nonaccomplishment widened from $10.27 cardinal successful 2023 to $38.15 cardinal successful 2024, according to its fiscal results.

The institution is scheduled to study its fiscal first-quarter results successful February.