Jan 13 (Reuters) - Speaker maker Sonos ( SONO ) said on

Monday Patrick Spence will step down as its CEO after a

disastrous app update last year sparked customer criticism and

delayed the development and release of other products.

The company named board member Tom Conrad, 55, as interim

CEO, effective immediately. Conrad is the outgoing chief

executive of Zero Longevity Science, the maker of the metabolic

health app Zero.

In May 2024, Sonos ( SONO ) launched a new app that was plagued with

significant issues, with users not able to perform essential

functions like accessing or searching their music libraries,

setting sleep timers, or even downloading the app.

The company said it would cost between $20 million and $30

million to fix these issues and decided to cut about 6% of its

staff.

Spence, in October, had acknowledged mistakes surrounding

the app's release and said that he and seven other company

leaders would forgo their bonuses.

Shares of the Santa Barbara, California-based company were

down more than 8%. The stock has lost about 12% of its value in

2024.

In November, the company forecast a decline of about 9% to

22% in its first-quarter sales from a year earlier as it

navigates market weakness and grapples with challenges from the

app failure.