Sonos: Patrick Spence resigns as CEO after app debacle
According to The Verge, Patrick Spence is stepping down from his position as CEO at Sonos. He was partly responsible for the unsuccessful launch of the new app.
(Image: Sonos)
Patrick Spence has resigned as CEO of sound specialist Sonos. Sonos confirmed this to The Verge. Spence's position will be taken over by board member Tom Conrad on an interim basis, writes The Verge. Conrad has previously worked at Apple, Snapchat and Pandora, among others.
According to The Verge, Patrick Spence's resignation as Sonos CEO is largely due to the unsuccessful launch of the new Sonos app last May. Sonos released the application, which was developed from scratch, last May. However, the app disappointed users with its lack of features and bugs.
Users were so angry about the poorly improved app that Sonos had to spend months trying to make amends. This initially took place as part of a forum Q&A session in which some Sonos employees answered critical questions from the community and promised improvements. It quickly became clear that even this would not be enough to calm the waters.
"No employee who isn't hurting"
Sonos boss Spence had to personally take the fall and make his own forum post asking for an apology. "We know that too many of you have had significant issues with our new app," Spence wrote in the post. "There isn't an employee at Sonos who isn't sorry for letting you down."
Finally, Sonos published a Trello board showing the development progress on the app. Later, Sonos even presented a seven-point catalog of measures to improve processes and regain the trust of the community. In it, Sonos promised stricter quality controls and the appointment of a "quality ombudsman".
According to The Verge, Patrick Spence will be paid by Sonos until June 30 to advise the company. Meanwhile, the US audio specialist is looking for a new CEO.
(dahe)
