Years of sweeping code bugs under the rug created a monster that bit Sonos’ back hard.
In May 2024, Sonos users expected a better app that would improve their user experience. Instead, they were greeted by a flood of problems, including missing core functions and numerous bugs.
These issues resulted in huge consequences for Sonos. This includes a 25% drop in stock prices, a $200 million revenue shortfall, layoffs, and product launches pushed back by months.
Now, months later, we finally know how and why it happened. It turns out, years of “technical debt” plus rushed development and cost-cutting are not a good mix.
Sonos’ “Technical Debt” Dilemma
Imagine building a house on a foundation that’s slowly crumbling. That’s essentially what Sonos did with their app.
For 20 years, Sonos let its technical infrastructure get more and more outdated. The result? The company’s app, which users use to set up and control their speakers, was built on layers of obsolete code and languages.
This buildup of “technical debt” – a term software engineers use to describe the growing threat of outdated code – was mostly ignored until mid-2022.
At this point, the company began a substantial revamp of its app to support its first fully mobile product—the Sonos Ace headphones.
But here’s where things went sideways. Instead of focusing on fixing their creaky codebase, Sonos pushed full steam ahead with plans to churn out new products faster than ever.
To make things worse, CEO Patrick Spence‘s promise to Sonos’ investors that they’d release at least two new products every year while keeping costs low added more pressure.
Something had to give, and unfortunately, it was the app’s stability that took the hit.
Employee and Internal Concerns
As the app’s launch date approached, internal tensions reached a boiling point. Employees, many of whom were Sonos fans before joining the company, began raising alarms about the app’s readiness.
According to three current and former employees, meetings had “screaming” and “yelling” as staff tried to tell executives how serious the situation was. Many said the rush to get new customers came at the cost of making sure existing products worked as expected.
“That was the thing that pushed them to ignore those other concerns,” revealed a senior employee.
“They thought they were making such a big, bold decision. It was the wrong decision.”
Yet, one employee reportedly feared that pushing back harder against senior leaders could risk their job.
The situation was further complicated by cost-cutting measures.
Layoffs in June 2023 and August affected members of the company’s quality-assurance teams. This further hurt the app’s development process.
A company reorganization led by Chief Product Officer Maxime Bouvat-Merlin also caused another big disruption.
To address the crisis, Eddie Lazarus, Sonos’ lead counsel, did an internal investigation into the events leading up to the app launch.
Here, he disputed claims of a cultural breakdown. But, he did admit that their list of “essential” bugs to fix before launch “obviously, was not comprehensive enough.”
The full contents of the report were not disclosed. But, it became clear that ignored technical debt, cost-cutting measures, and the dismissal of internal warnings were at its core.
Sonos’ ‘Solutions’
After the launch, Spence’s email inbox reportedly received over 30,000 customer complaints since May.
Sonos’ typically loyal fanbase also went to various platforms to share their frustration.
Some started using third-party apps to make their systems work again. Others started to call their older devices “worthless bricks” and accused the company of forcing unnecessary upgrades.
To address this, Sonos brought back Nick Millington, the original software architect, to oversee app improvements. Board member Tom Conrad was also assigned to monitor progress. And, they offered bi-weekly updates to fix the app so users know that they’re working on it.
But that’s not all.
In a move that probably didn’t win him any popularity contests, Spence canceled yearly bonuses and merit-based pay raises.
There’s no further explanation on this revealed. But, we can guess this was done to pay for the $20 million and $30 million they set aside to fix the app issues.
Of course, there was significant backlash. So, Spence went on what some employees called an “apology tour,” meeting with staff across different offices to reassure them of his commitment to solving the crisis.
He also personally responded to customer feedback on platforms like Reddit and at industry events, taking the blame himself and telling everyone that they were on top of things.