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Anybody read the Verge article https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/22/24162168/sonos-ceo-patrick-spence-new-app-design-interview. How can anyone be as dense and stupid as Spence. Really?  Really?  Look at the community here. Look at Twitter. Look at reviews on the App Store. This was the most pathetic and disastrous rollout of new software in this history of the planet, and the guy totally doesn’t get it and is spouting fiction and excuses.  Un..f...ingbelievable.


🤣 your comments nailed it  

 

Spence:

I’ve been using it since Christmas. Everybody at Sonos has been testing it for months. It has delivered — we know from data and from feedback — that it is easier to navigate. But it’s a change for customers. It is faster and more responsive, and it’s a better overall experience. 

 

He’s living in an alternate reality 


I also found this bit at the end to be interesting:

Sonos approaches the all-important release of its Ace headphones and enters a huge new product category that could spur growth amid declining speaker and soundbar demand.

Are headphones - the large ones like Ace - a large enough market to compensate for lower sales of speakers/sound bars? And if the latter are seeing a demand constraint, will Ace be enough to grow overall sales, the all important metric for the street/analysts who seem to be driving Spence just now?


The overall headphone market is ~50% larger than wifi speaker market. And growing projected for several years. So there’s that.
 

If 1% of Sonos owners buy an Ace it will be ~70 mill in revenue. Sonos projects 100 mill in new revenue from Ace. It seems achievable to me. There’s a lot criticism of the functionality but the Sonos install base is pretty big and some will buy. 

Apple AirPods Max sales have increased a lot. 48% or something like that in 2023. Positive sign for Ace, maybe.  
 

Another big consideration for Sonos is people apparently replace their headphones often ~3years apparently. 


Is all this excluding the in ear/bud types?

People replace the large ones every 3 years?


Is all this excluding the in ear/bud types?

People replace the large ones every 3 years?

 No including all types. Expensive headphones are selling though. 
 

From WSJ

In a survey earlier this year, Thill found that 62% of consumers said they buy a new set of headphones every three years, “suggesting a significantly faster refresh cycle compared to typical Sonos products.”

 



🤣 your comments nailed it  

 

Spence:

I’ve been using it since Christmas. Everybody at Sonos has been testing it for months. It has delivered — we know from data and from feedback — that it is easier to navigate. But it’s a change for customers. It is faster and more responsive, and it’s a better overall experience. 

 

He’s living in an alternate reality 

 


Anybody read the Verge article https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/22/24162168/sonos-ceo-patrick-spence-new-app-design-interview. How can anyone be as dense and stupid as Spence. Really?  Really?  Look at the community here. Look at Twitter. Look at reviews on the App Store. This was the most pathetic and disastrous rollout of new software in this history of the planet, and the guy totally doesn’t get it and is spouting fiction and excuses.  Un..f...ingbelievable.

Disgusting


Why dont give us option to revert back?

 



🤣 your comments nailed it  

 

Spence:

I’ve been using it since Christmas. Everybody at Sonos has been testing it for months. It has delivered — we know from data and from feedback — that it is easier to navigate. But it’s a change for customers. It is faster and more responsive, and it’s a better overall experience. 

 

He’s living in an alternate reality 

Irresponsible n untrustworthy

Dont buy sonos


He's not lying - he's a CEO and Inhabits a different reality to the ordinary folk who buy his products in a search for enjoyment.

He'd act the same if he was flogging lead balloons. 


He's not lying - he's a CEO and Inhabits a different reality to the ordinary folk who buy his products in a search for enjoyment.

He'd act the same if he was flogging lead balloons. 

LOL


Is all this excluding the in ear/bud types?

People replace the large ones every 3 years?

People take headphones with them so they get damaged or lost much easier than your home speakers. But the downside to that business model is that people have an opportunity to switch brands every few years. You rely on brand loyalty.


people have an opportunity to switch brands every few years. You rely on brand loyalty.

That means that other headphones can be used with Sonos and Ace can be used with other systems? 

That’s a very different business model for Sonos in the case.


Is all this excluding the in ear/bud types?

People replace the large ones every 3 years?

People take headphones with them so they get damaged or lost much easier than your home speakers. But the downside to that business model is that people have an opportunity to switch brands every few years. You rely on brand loyalty.

Brand loyalty?? Which Sonos have done well maintaining recently, NOT!🤣


people have an opportunity to switch brands every few years. You rely on brand loyalty.

That means that other headphones can be used with Sonos and Ace can be used with other systems? 

That’s a very different business model for Sonos in the case.

No, I didn't mean to imply that.

People mostly use their headphones on the go. So whether or not you can pair it with your home cinema is not really a decisive element for most people.

Brand loyalty is much more about trust than it is about functionality.


 

People mostly use their headphones on the go.

Would those not largely be the small in-ear ones? Do people on the go do so with headphones of this size?


 

People mostly use their headphones on the go.

Would those not largely be the small in-ear ones? Do people on the go do so with headphones of this size?

That might differ per country, but in the Netherlands I see a big crowd commuting with on-ear or over-ear headphones.


Seriously? Just got this in an email!

 


The overall headphone market is ~50% larger than wifi speaker market. And growing projected for several years. So there’s that.
 

If 1% of Sonos owners buy an Ace it will be ~70 mill in revenue. Sonos projects 100 mill in new revenue from Ace. It seems achievable to me. There’s a lot criticism of the functionality but the Sonos install base is pretty big and some will buy. 

Apple AirPods Max sales have increased a lot. 48% or something like that in 2023. Positive sign for Ace, maybe.  
 

Another big consideration for Sonos is people apparently replace their headphones often ~3years apparently. 

I’d have probably bought some Bumper, if it hadn’t been for this latest debacle.

Now if Mr Spence offered me a massive discount on the price of them to make up for the angst, trauma and time wasted trying to put his crap App update to work - I might reconsider, but it would have to be a MASSIVE discount.