Sonos, still trying to fix its broken app, is laying off 100 employees

Sonos laid off about 100 employees on Wednesday, First reported by The Edge Sonos confirmed this to Engadget. The company’s marketing team is said to have borne the brunt of the hit. The cuts come as Sonos tries to sell its new Ace headphones to the public and simultaneously fix the revamped Sonos mobile app, which CEO Patrick Spence has admitted was a result of him pushing for development speed.

The company confirmed the layoffs in a statement to Engadget. “We have made the difficult decision to say goodbye to nearly 100 team members representing 6% of the company,” Spence said in a statement. “This was a difficult but necessary step to ensure continued meaningful investment in Sonos’ product roadmap while setting Sonos up for long-term success.”

The company is also reportedly “closing” some customer support offices, including one in Amsterdam that is set to close later this year. Sonos LinkedIn Page Reports The company has 1,800 employees worldwide, and the 6% figure in the statement means that the company has about 1,650 employees. The company’s last layoffs in June 2023 resulted in a 7% reduction in its workforce.

While Engadget’s review of the company’s new Ace headphones was largely rave, the app’s complaints largely overshadowed the anticipated launch of the devices. The app’s launch, which was designed to address “performance and reliability issues” and rebuild the developer platform “with modern programming languages ​​that allow us to drive more innovation faster,” was a disaster. It caused headaches for the company’s most loyal customers and threatened to drag the brand down as it entered new product categories. It even delayed the launch of two new products that were ready to go.

The new Sonos app for Android, iOS and desktop launched in May without basic features like sleep timers and alarms. Customers reported issues rearranging speakers in different rooms, with some working only intermittently, and problems completing other basic tasks. Others even said they often couldn’t load the app on the first try.

To get an idea of ​​how bad the app is, Spence put Timeline To fix it in a blog post late last month. July and August are dedicated to improving stability as new products are added and music library improvements are implemented. August and September are dedicated to improving audio response, UI, stability, and bug fixes. September and October will include tweaks to alert consistency and reliability, and restoring playlist and queue editing. Settings improvements will also be addressed. (Fuuuu!)

In Spence’s statement about the layoffs on Wednesday, he said the cuts would not impact operations on the app. “Our ongoing commitment to restoring the app and delighting our customers remains our top priority, and we are confident that today’s actions will not impact our ability to deliver on that promise,” the CEO wrote.

Today’s announcement wasn’t well received by the company’s Reddit page. communityThe company has been vocal about the app’s problems since its launch. Some have suggested that today’s announced layoffs target 100 employees when one senior employee would have been more effective. “I have to say I wasn’t prepared to fire Patrick Spence, but any CEO who leaves his employees in the lurch and then signs off on them is a piece of shit.” books.

“Since I became CEO, one of my key focus areas has been the need for Sonos to move faster,” Spence said on an earnings call in July. “That’s what led me to promise at least two new products a year — a promise we’ve been able to deliver on. However, my push for speed with the app has backfired.”

Update, August 14, 2023, 4:56 p.m. ETThis story has been updated to add a statement from Sonos CEO Patrick Spence.