Sonos Gets New CEO After App Disaster - MacRumors
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Sonos Gets New CEO After App Disaster

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Sonos today named interim CEO Tom Conrad as its permanent CEO, officially replacing Patrick Spence after he stepped down back in January.

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Spence was CEO of Sonos for eight years, and he oversaw the disastrous app redesign that disappointed Sonos customers due to missing features and poor performance. Sonos had to delay product launches in order to focus on fixing the app, and ultimately laid off 100 employees.

Tom Conrad co-founded music service Pandora, and he was vice president of product at Snap and Chief Product Officer at Quibi. He also served on the Sonos board before being appointed interim CEO. Sonos was searching for a replacement CEO, but Conrad has been successful turning things around at Sonos over the past six months.

Conrad has been named Sonos' CEO, and he will also remain on the Board of Directors.

"Following a comprehensive and competitive search, the Board is confident that Tom is the best person to lead Sonos into its next chapter of delighting customers, spearheading innovation, and driving growth," said Julius Genachowski, Chair of the Board. "Over the past six months, Tom has earned the confidence of our employees, customers, partners and shareholders by restoring urgency and a deep commitment to delivering ever-improving experiences. He has a compelling vision for Sonos' future, with strong plans to harness technology to benefit our customers, as AI and other advances reframe the landscape and unlock new opportunities. We're energized by what Sonos' next chapter holds for all our stakeholders."

Sonos was able to improve its app and launch the Sonos Ace headphones and the Sonos Arc Ultra soundbar under Conrad's leadership. Conrad said that he is excited to "move from rebuilding to imagining the next generation of experiences."

Tag: Sonos

Top Rated Comments

ThomasJL Avatar
ThomasJL
10 months ago
Apple should get a new CEO, preferably Scott Forstall.
Score: 11 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Plutonius Avatar
Plutonius
10 months ago
Even bad CEOs get paid very well.
Score: 7 Votes (Like | Disagree)
maruyama Avatar
maruyama
10 months ago
Quibi! Haven't heard that name in a while. Surprised the board even mentioned that one given his otherwise impressive resume.

Is the Sonos app decent now?
Score: 5 Votes (Like | Disagree)
Agent007 Avatar
Agent007
10 months ago
I've never owned any Sonos products but I read about this debacle last year. As I understand it, Sonos' new app made major UX changes and bricked many older products. [S]They apologized[/S] Their PR unit responded with formulaic damage-control and the obligatory vague corporate promise to do better in the future.

Since I trust that most of you aren't bots, I want to hear from the Sonos users - did Sonos right their wrongs? Did any of you abandon them for good? How's the ANC on Ace vs. Sony XM5's, APM, or Bose QC? Any major gripes with the Ace overall? I've seen big discounts recently - low-mid $200's range new.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
E
erihp
10 months ago

And fired ones too. Nearly $2million in severance. ('https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/13/24342179/sonos-ceo-patrick-spence-resignation-reason-app')
Hey, gotta keep paying those big bills living the (ex)CEO lifestyle while managing to 'fail up' into a new role.
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
mrgraff Avatar
mrgraff
10 months ago

Even bad CEOs get paid very well.
And fired ones too. Nearly $2million in severance. ('https://www.theverge.com/2025/1/13/24342179/sonos-ceo-patrick-spence-resignation-reason-app')
Score: 4 Votes (Like | Disagree)
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