Two new Sonos products delayed; likely includes Apple TV rival

Two new Sonos products are ready to ship, according to the company, but the launches have been delayed by ongoing problems with the company’s app. This likely includes a set-top TV box intended to compete with Apple TV.

Sonos CEO Patrick Spence repeated his apology to Sonos owners for letting them down with the new app, and said that putting this right is the company’s number one priority …

The Sonos app debacle

Sonos launched a new app back in May, in order to support the Ace headphones it launched later that month.

Since changes in the app architecture were needed, the company decided to take the opportunity to rewrite the app from the ground up. That did not go well.

The new app removed key features, lost speaker connections, introduced transmission lags, and broke accessibility for visually impaired users. Sonos was forced to scramble to start fixing these problems.

Vance last month apologised to Sonos customers, and shared a timeline for fixing the remaining issues, which includes fortnightly updates.

Two new Sonos products delayed

In the Q3 earnings call, Vance reiterated his apology for the app issues, blaming himself for pushing an aggressive pace of two new products a year, requiring the app development to be rushed.

It’s so painful to let customers down the way we have with our new app. I am committed to making this right with our customers and partners. It’s the company’s #1 focus right now, and I will not rest until we’re in a position where we’ve addressed the issues and have customers raving about Sonos again […]

Since I took over as CEO, one of my particular points of emphasis has been the imperative for Sonos to move faster. That is what led to my promise to deliver at least two new products every year — a promise we have successfully delivered on. With the app, however, my push for speed backfired.

Given the need to focus first on fixing the app, the CEO said that it was delaying its next two product launches.

We believe our focus needs to be addressing the app ahead of everything else. This means delaying the two major new product releases we had planned for Q4 until our app experience meets the level of quality that we, our customers and our partners expect from Sonos.

Likely includes a competitor to Apple TV

The company hasn’t revealed any details of the delayed products, but Bloomberg has previously reported that one of the products the company is working on is a potential rival to the Apple TV box.

The company is aiming to introduce a TV set-top box, which would compete with products from Apple Inc. and Roku Inc., as early as the end of 2024, said the people, who asked not to be identified because the plans aren’t yet public. Sonos looks to charge between $150 and $200 for that device, which would run apps from popular streaming services.

Photo by Dennis Brendel on Unsplash