Sonos CEO Patrick Spence Resigns After App Debacle: A Leadership Change

As chief executive, Patrick Spence oversaw numerous successful products at Sonos. However, the fallout from last year’s app debacle has ultimately resulted in his resignation.

Sonos CEO Patrick Spence is stepping down from his position effective immediately, with board member Tom Conrad appointed as interim CEO. This marks a significant development in an eight-month saga that has been one of the most challenging periods in Sonos’ history.

The company’s decision to launch a flawed, completely redesigned new app in May—which was missing crucial features at launch—outraged customers and triggered a months-long series of events that included layoffs, a steep drop in employee morale, and a public apology campaign. The Sonos Ace headphones, which were speculated to be the reason behind the rushed app release, ended up being overshadowed by this controversy, with sales numbers reportedly remaining poor. Complaints and negative sentiments have dominated Sonos’ community forums and subreddit since spring.

In October, Sonos attempted to address the situation, which had escalated into a public relations nightmare, by announcing a turnaround plan. The company pledged to enhance product development processes, promote internal transparency, and implement measures aimed at preventing such significant errors from recurring. Additionally, Sonos engaged a crisis management public relations firm to help navigate this challenging period.

Image: Sonos

However, three months later, Sonos’ board and Spence have concluded that these efforts were insufficient: the app debacle has officially cost him his role. No additional changes are being made at this time, and chief product officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin, who has faced private criticism from some employees, will retain his position.

“We’re going to initiate a search for the next CEO, and we’ll work on finding a leader who can build on our legacy and help move the company forward,” Sonos spokesperson Erin Pategas stated during a phone call on Sunday afternoon. She characterized the leadership transition as “turning a page on our current chapter and forging a path that aligns with our goals for ourselves and our customers.”

For those curious, this path will not involve reverting to the previous Sonos app; Pategas emphasized that the company is fully committed to the new software, which has undergone numerous bug fixes and has gradually restored previous features over recent months. While improvements have been made, issues persist, including reports of speakers disappearing from the app.

Photo by Becca Farsace / The Verge

Patrick Spence joined Sonos in 2012 as chief commercial officer. During his tenure as CEO, he oversaw the release of numerous successful hardware products; Sonos launched several impressive soundbars (including the newly released Arc Ultra), ventured into portable audio with the Move and Roam, and introduced the innovative Era 300 spatial audio speaker. However, the mishaps with the app—and Spence’s failure to promptly apologize—ultimately tarnished his reputation among the company’s most loyal customers, leaving little room for redemption.

Spence will technically remain with Sonos until June 30th of this year, during which he will receive a monthly salary of $7,500 for providing the company with “strategic advisory services.” Upon his departure, he is set to receive a severance package totaling $1,875,000, as detailed in an 8K filing Sonos submitted to the SEC regarding today’s announcement.

It is now up to Tom Conrad, who has been part of the Sonos board since 2017, to inspire disillusioned employees and work towards regaining consumer trust. Conrad’s experience includes a decade as chief technology officer at Pandora and two years as VP of product at Snapchat. He was also involved with Apple’s Finder software during the ‘90s. Most recently, he served as chief product officer for the short-lived Quibi streaming service. Pategas believes he is well-suited for the interim CEO role due to his understanding of the company’s current challenges; Conrad and chief innovation officer Nick Millington have been leading Sonos’ app improvement efforts for several months now.

Despite this significant leadership change, Sonos’ future product pipeline is reported to be “full steam ahead,” according to Pategas. The company’s next major product is rumored to be a streaming video player, potentially competing with the likes of Apple, Roku, Amazon, and Google in the living room.