First off, I am a huge Sonos fan! Been one for as long as they have existed. I was lucky enough to get a Demo model of the new Arc before it launched and was impressed by the upgrades from the previous Playbar. I knew then i wanted to grab one and add it to my growing collection. But at launch, they vanished and ended up on resale sites instead of in the hands of someone like me who actually loves the product and had anticipated a smooth launch that included actually getting one. None set aside for current users, none in stock at retailers and oddly nothing on the Sonos website.
While listening the most recent earnings call, there were some interesting excuses as to why this happened and why the product is unavailable until mid October but no apparent solutions (yes, i am also an investor). This was shocking to me as Sonos usually has much higher standards than the competition. For this launch the blame was everywhere. From covid to manufacturing issues there was a ready excuse. Yet still no Arcs to be seen at anyone’s home who i knew would get one (including mine).
I just don’t understand why it even launched when the execution was so horrible. There was no planning it seemed, no accountability for the failure and seemingly no solution to getting the job done. It was disappointing to watch this failure and feel it as a Sonos customer. It is even worse from the investor standpoint. Is this the new normal? Should we expect even more problems with future launches? How about software? Do we need to worry that updates will be delayed just like basic manufacturing?
As a long time Sonos fan, i hate writing anything negative but this launch has been nothing but negative for me and a lot of people i talk to. While i understand you can’t just make things magically appear for your customers, I do wonder if you can make a “list” of some kind to prioritize real people over internet bots that buy your product just to resell to your customers at a higher price. The bots only destroy Sonos goodwill and frustrate actual buyers.They do nothing to help any of us, Sonos or the bottom line.
