A fascinating chapter of Apple’s history has come to light regarding Sonos’s inception and future direction. Notably, Tony Fadell, known as the ‘father of the iPod,’ actively sought to persuade Apple to acquire the esteemed audio brand.
Despite Fadell’s efforts, Steve Jobs was not swayed; instead, he expressed a desire to litigate against the company…
The Information’s Nick Wingfield authored an article titled Where Does Sonos Go From Here, which disclosed that an anonymous former Apple executive attempted to convince Steve Jobs to purchase Sonos. While the full article is behind a paywall, Daring Fireball highlighted a particularly intriguing excerpt.
Years ago, a former senior Apple executive relayed to me that he earnestly urged Steve Jobs, who was then the CEO, to acquire Sonos. Jobs was uninterested. A great deal has shifted since that time, but Sonos’s branding may still possess enough allure to attract a stronger prospective buyer.
John Gruber from the site noted that the mention of a former senior executive really narrows down the potential candidates. He speculated that it could be Scott Forstall, yet also contemplated Tony Fadell – the visionary behind the iPod’s design.
Upon reaching out, Fadell confirmed his involvement and recounted further details of the story.
I approached Tony Fadell who validated his role, indicating that it happened in the very early stages of Sonos, when they were set to launch a product that featured a distinctive iPod-like scroll wheel for user interaction. Jobs was keen on suing (naturally). However, Fadell, after conferring with the founders, wanted to acquire the company and pitched this idea to Jobs multiple times around 2003. Fadell shared that his argument was simply, “We are passionate about music. Customers are eager for this. I am all in.” Jobs’s retort, according to Fadell, was that “No one desires what they offer.”
The product in question was the Song Mobile (shown below), which undeniably drew significant inspiration from the iPod, making Jobs’s reaction quite rational. Nevertheless, it’s clear that Jobs misjudged the appeal of Sonos’s offerings and the overlapping customer demographics.
Additionally, Sonos made a substantial error by launching a new application that disrupted many of its functionalities, severely damaging customer trust. In its latest effort to rectify the situation, the company has dismissed its previous CEO and appointed Tom Conrad as an interim replacement.
However, since one of Conrad’s first actions was to terminate the chief product officer, Gruber speculates he may serve as “as much ‘interim’ CEO as Steve Jobs was in 1997.”
Image: DMN composite of images by Sonos and Mike Yukhtenko on Unsplash
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