Entering the final quarter of its fiscal year, Sonos probably thought it was doing well

Unfortunately, a botched redesign of the Sonos app left customers furious and the audio company scrambling ever since

As CEO Spence revealed in Sonos' Q3 earnings press release, the fallout from this blunder continues

Due to issues arising from the app redesign, Sonos has lowered its guidance for FY2024 Simply put, the software update forced the company to change its original targets and projected revenue for the fiscal year And this happened despite the fact that the debut of the Ace headphones "exceeded expectations," Spence said

But beyond revenue, however, Sonos' apps have essentially caused the company to stop right there, including postponing future products

Ace headphones, Spence said, "have been overshadowed by the problems experienced by customers and partners as a result of the new app rollout"

"We have a clear action plan to address the problems caused by our app as soon as possible

Currently, the focus for the company is on fixing the apps, and the report described Sonos' next steps as "the ability to introduce software updates in a timely manner to fix bugs, improve customer experience, add specific features to our new apps, and other outlines, among other things, the ability to deliver an action plan to address any issues raised, and the ability to maintain, enhance, and protect our brand image"

Apparently, Sonos has two new products that were supposed to ship in the coming months, but the app setback has delayed that process; Sonos has not stated which products were affected, so it is unclear what those products are

In early July, however, it was reported that Sonos was developing a successor to the Arc soundbar, code-named Lasso The new soundbar will reportedly feature new technology, more powerful bass, and improved Bluetooth audio If the rumored speakers are as good as the Arc, it will soon be one of the best soundbars available

Bloomberg reported in November 2023 that Sonos is developing a TV set-top box to compete with Apple TV and Roku The device would cost between $150 and $200 and would run apps for streaming services Not much more is known about it

It is good to see Sonos delaying the product launch to focus on the app The redesign has received a lot of backlash on social media and Reddit and is widely disliked by Sonos customers Posts and comments complaining about the app redesign flooded Sonos help forums and blogs

In his third quarter earnings report, Spence said that the redesign effort to fix the app's problems would cost between $20 million and $30 million Spence seems confident that Sonos will return to normalcy, describing the incident as a "regrettable" chapter