The release in May of a new app that controls the speakers was meant to have been the culmination of CEO Patrick Spence's grand plan to refresh the company's infrastructure and expand into a greater share of the US$100-billion audio market, of which it estimates it controls less than 2%.
The existing Sonos app was struggling to handle all the demands of the modern-day audiophile, who wants to listen to sound from various sources, both local and in the cloud, across multiple devices and rooms. Spence said "performance and reliability issues" had crept in over time.
It turns out the new app was flawed, though. There's not enough space in this column to list all of its shortcomings, but here's a few: sound drops in and out; volume blasts high and can't be adjusted; devices "disappear" in the app, seemingly at random. The most basic features, like setting a sleep timer or alarm, are missing, according to tech site Engadget. "My push for speed backfired," Spence said.
In a business like specialist audio, trust can be extremely hard to win back. Now Spence, who has been in charge for some 12 years, most likely has just months to save the company's future.
Does it stop there? Since the new app was first launched, Sonos's stock has fallen more than 35%. Its market cap of about $1.4-billion makes it a vulnerable minnow among those that seek to compete, like Google, Amazon.com or Apple, all of which have invested in smart speaker products. Bose, another competitor, is privately held, and there are a few other smaller players.
