A day after announcing CEO Patrick Spence’s departure from the company, Sonos revealed that chief product officer Maxime Povat-Merlin will also leave. Buffat-Merlin has been Chief Operating Officer since 2023.
As I mentioned for the first time before BloombergSonos will not fill the position of chief product officer. Instead, Tom Conrad, Sonos’ interim CEO yesterday, will take on the responsibilities of the role. In an email to employees cited by Bloomberg (you can read the entire message at the link: EdgeConrad explained:
As I assumed the CEO role, Max and the Board of Directors and I agreed that my background made the CPO role redundant. Therefore, Max’s role has been canceled and the producer organization will inform me directly. I have asked Max to advise me over the coming period to ensure a smooth transition and I am grateful that he has agreed to do so.
In May, Sonos released an update to its app that sent customers, many of them long-time users, revolting over broken features, like accessibility capabilities and the ability to set timers. Sonos expects that addressing the app and Sonos’ reputation will cost it at least $20 million to $30 million.
As company president, Spence received a lot of blame and was also criticized for not apologizing for the problems until July. However, many reports have also placed the blame for Merlin’s death.