Sonos reveals it’s delaying two product launches until app is fixed

Sonos has revealed that it is delaying the launch of two new products in order to focus on fixing its broken app.

During the audio company’s third quarter fiscal report, CEO Patrick Spence reflected on the impact of its bungled app revamp, despite better-than-expected revenue growth due to the successful launch of the Sonos Ace headphones.

Spence revealed that the success of his company’s new product has been “overshadowed by the problems that our customers and partners experienced as a result of the rollout of our new app, which in turn has required us to reduce our Fiscal 2024 guidance.”

The broken Sonos app has done more than merely hurt the company’s bottom line. Spence revealed that his company’s focus on fixing the app ahead of everything else had meant that two products had been held back, despite being ready to go to market in the fourth quarter.

He didn’t divulge what those two products were, but it’s possible to make an educated guess – or rather, two. One of these is almost certainly the next flagship Sonos soundbar, codenamed Lasso, which was tipped for launch later this year.

The second delayed product is tougher to pin down, but it could well be a rumoured set top box, which could rival the Apple TV 4K in the premium streaming device stakes.

Sonos rolled out its completely overhauled app on May 7, with customisation and personalisation at its heart. However, users quickly discovered a number of bugs, missing features, and general issues, prompting an apology from CEO Spence.

In this latest earnings call, Spence restated that “We have a clear action plan to address the issues caused by our app as quickly as possible”. The fact that the company seemingly won’t launch any new hardware until it’s fixed can only lend weight to those claims of urgency.