 Sonos Ace headphones. Photographer: Jeenah Moon/Bloomberg Sonos struggles to sell Ace headphones as it considers a higher-end model. Sonos is trying to crawl out of the massive hole it created when the audio company prematurely launched a revamped app. It had hoped to usher in a new generation of products with a fresh software interface, but the glitchy app plunged the company into a crisis. This past week, Sonos attempted to bounce back by rolling out a pair of new products: the Arc Ultra and a new Sub subwoofer. Those devices were on the Sonos road map that I published last year (and most of the other items on the list should still be coming, though I recently reported on delays to a set-top box product). But Sonos is still struggling with its high-profile attempt to crack the headphone market. I'm told that the company only sold about 200,000 units of the new Ace headphones through September. I previously reported that Sonos slashed its annual manufacturing plans from as much as 1 million units to about 10% of that. The flawed app has contributed to the problems. One of the main reasons for the software overhaul was to create a new system to control the $450 Ace headphones, and it hasn't gone smoothly. Still, Sonos is working on a plan to potentially turn around its fortunes: a higher-end model. The idea is knock $50 off the price of the current model, and then sell the more upscale version at $450. That effort — codenamed Roundhouse — remains in early stages, and the company hasn't decided whether to move forward. Some Sonos employees are skeptical that the move would succeed, but the discussions show that the company realizes it has a problem. The Ace hasn't been the ace in the hole (sorry) that Sonos thought it would be.  New LoveFrom-Moncler jackets. Source: Andre Elijah New Moncler jackets designed by Jony Ive begin arriving. Former Apple design head Jony Ive and his new firm LoveFrom recently launched a collaboration with high-end jacket maker Moncler, and we're now getting a look at the results. Andre Elijah, a Power On reader who designs video games, sent in photos and first impressions of the lineup. In keeping with Moncler's luxury brand, the clothes aren't cheap, but Elijah says the attention to detail, material quality and unique design made them worthwhile to him. The new parka starts at $2,440, while a down jacket is priced at $3,115. There's also a poncho that costs just over $2,000. The unique feature here is how the pieces can interconnect using a new magnetic button system designed by Ive. It's reminiscent of the approach to magnets that Ive brought to Apple products before departing. Elijah hopes the new button system makes its way to other Moncler products and likes the unique colors, including orange and ivory. Since leaving Apple in 2019, Ive has also been working on an electric Ferrari and has a design agreement with Airbnb Inc. His former design group, meanwhile, looks very different now: Nearly all of the Apple designers who reported to him have either retired or taken other jobs — with many heading over to LoveFrom. The exodus has included Ive's replacement at Apple, Evans Hankey, as well as Tang Tan, the former head of product design for the iPhone within the hardware engineering group.  Amazon's new Kindles. Source: Amazon Amazon rolls out color Kindle, but without a splashy product event. By this time of year, Amazon.com Inc. would have typically held a wide-ranging launch event to announce several new devices and initiatives. Last year, the company unveiled its (still unreleased) next-generation Alexa with generative AI. In 2021, it revealed its Astro home robot. But the company has a new product chief, Panos Panay, and times appear to be changing. Panay, who came from Microsoft Corp., is likely trying to put the Amazon device unit on a new course — one that probably doesn't involve rolling out devices that are killed off after a couple years. Until he's able to revamp the organization, Amazon is slowly rolling out upgrades to its core products. It recently added some software and AI features to its Ring cameras, and now the company is updating its original device category: the Kindle. This past week, Amazon launched the Kindle Colorsoft, a $280 model that brings a color screen to the device for first time. This ability will enliven book covers and let people make highlights on text and images. There's also a new $160 Paperwhite with a faster chip and a refresh to the Kindle's $110 entry-level version. The $400 Kindle Scribe, a model with note-taking capabilities, is getting an update as well. And Amazon enhanced its Kindle aimed at kids. While these are nice upgrades, the e-reader market has been hurt by cheaper tablets — including Amazon's own Fire line — and the move to larger phones like the iPhone 16 Pro Max. With screen sizes of phones approaching 7 inches, there's little reason to carry two devices these days. More broadly, Amazon's devices unit has been stuck in a rut. The Astro has been a dud, the company still hasn't shipped its highly anticipated Ring drone camera, and Meta has jumped out ahead in smart glasses. On top of that, the Alexa-based Echo speakers — its flagship products for some time — have been losing momentum. Panay has work to do.  Apple's Carol Surface. Source: David Kern/Medtronic Inside Apple's HR crisis. When Apple hires outsiders for top executive roles, they often don't last long. We have a fresh example in the form of Chief People Officer Carol Surface, who joined Apple from Medtronic Plc and is now out after less than two years. Unsurprisingly, she will be replaced by three-decade veteran Deirdre O'Brien, who used to hold the top human-resources role alongside her duties overseeing Apple's retail empire. Here is the announcement from Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook in full: Team, The People team is incredibly important to Apple and their work is instrumental in supporting you, in maintaining our unique culture, and in enabling us all to do our very best work each and every day. I am writing today to let you know that Carol Surface, who has been leading the People team, will be leaving Apple. I want to thank Carol for her expertise and contributions across the people space during her time at Apple. Deirdre O'Brien, who is a seasoned leader with deep experience in the role, will lead the People team moving forward following a transition with Carol. Deirdre will bring her characteristic focus and care to the role. She will continue to lead our outstanding retail team and I couldn't be more confident in her commitment and passion for this very important work. I want to share my gratitude for the People team for all that they do. Their continued energy and dedication help make Apple the special place that it is. Tim
Surface isn't the only one leaving this department, known as the People team. Sjoerd Gehring, Apple's vice president of talent management, recruiting and immigration, is heading to hedge fund Citadel to be its chief people officer. Employees say that the HR group has been tumultuous under Surface's tenure, and other high-ranking executives — as well as rank-and-file employees — have hit the exits. Some employees left in part because they no longer wanted to work with Surface, as I reported last week. That list includes Gehring himself. Around May, the People team also started trying to push out employees, including ones on the business partner and inclusion and diversity teams. From the beginning, the team's employees were skeptical of Surface's management style, though they did appreciate her extensive HR background, I'm told. I'm told that Surface made some strides in putting her stamp on the organization, but was unable to overcome pushback from more senior leaders. The department also drew criticism for a rocky switch to Workday Inc.'s HR software, but that effort was underway prior to Surface taking over. The group also had to contend with a campaign by several US retail stores to unionize. Some employees have complained about the company pushing back on those labor organizing efforts. Earlier this year, Surface swapped out her top deputy in charge of diversity, replacing a former Intel Corp. executive with Bank of America Corp.'s Cynthia Bowman. There's also been the stress of job cuts at Apple. In a rare sequence of events, the company had to lay off or relocate employees in at least four areas: a shuttered AI team in San Diego, the company's failed self-driving car project, a canceled effort to develop next-generation device displays and its digital services division. The HR team, of course, oversaw those personnel changes. When Apple hired Surface, the move allowed O'Brien to offload HR responsibilities and focus on retail. The company never intended O'Brien to have both those duties permanently, Cook said at the time. But now I believe Apple has given up on trying to bring in an outsider for the HR role, and O'Brien will probably keep that job until she retires. The big question is what happens after she steps away, given the lack of apparent successors for both HR and, more importantly, retail. Many of the senior outside hires by Cook have been unsuccessful. Apple's prior communications chief, Stella Low, lasted eight months. And the company's biggest-ever outside hire — Burberry veteran Angela Ahrendts — was gone after less than five years. By some accounts, she was already on the outs after only a couple years. More than a decade ago, John Browett didn't even make it to a single holiday season as retail chief. There are a few exceptions: Chief Financial Officer Luca Maestri, General Counsel Kate Adams and key executive Lisa Jackson are all beloved. But that took time. Maestri originally came in as corporate controller, reporting to former CFO Peter Oppenheimer (Maestri is now handing the baton to his own lieutenant). Jackson, meanwhile, worked her way up from being environment chief to becoming one of Cook's closest advisers on a variety of issues, including how it deals with the White House and governments globally. Adams, perhaps uniquely, appeared to be a good fit from the very start.  The Apple Park campus. Photographer: Bloomberg/Bloomberg Apple's John Ternus reshapes the hardware engineering group. Almost every October, right around the time that employee shares vest, Apple promotes a handful of executives to the vice president level. That's the highest title at the company below the group of senior vice presidents that report directly to Cook. With the departures of hardware engineering executive Dan Riccio, procurement chief Dan Rosckes, App Store head Matt Fischer, and HR leaders Surface and Gehring, Apple certainly has room on its VP roster, which it likes to cap at about 100. This month, hardware engineering head John Ternus is promoting three of his deputies to the vice president level: Richard Dinh, Dave Pakula and Donny Nordhues. Dinh becomes the VP of product design for the iPhone and related programs; Pakula is now the VP of product design for the iPad, Apple Watch, audio products, input devices, soft goods and the company's China-based Mac teams; and Nordhues becomes the VP of program management for the hardware engineering organization. In a memo to Apple's engineering group, Ternus said that Dinh is in charge of the future iPhone road map and called the company's upcoming models the "most ambitious in the product's history." He said that Dinh "continues to help drive an exciting future for this iconic product line." He said that Nordhues "spearheaded cross-functional initiatives to drive significant cost-saving opportunities without impacting product ambition" and that Pakula has been "instrumental" to Apple's future road map. All three men were previously promoted to larger roles over the past year, part of a shake-up in the hardware engineering group that included the departure of at least three of Ternus' prior top deputies. The department has had a bit of a revolving door, with Ternus needing to quickly refill ranks from within. Earlier this month, Ternus got a promotion of sorts of his own, when he took over the Vision Products Group and its more than 2,000 staffers. The elevation of Pakula is particularly interesting since it might hint at some larger changes in the hardware engineering organization down the road. The move means that Pakula's duties now overlap with those of Kate Bergeron, long known as Ternus' top deputy. That could suggest that Apple is engaged in succession planning for Bergeron, one of its highest-profile and more important executives, or preparing her for a different role.  Apple iPhones at the company's Fifth Avenue store in New York. Photographer: Victor J. Blue/Bloomberg Oct. 31 — Apple set to report earnings. The company will deliver results for its September quarter at the end of this month, giving investors and analysts a sense of how the iPhone 16 is doing so far. Wall Street is expecting revenue of about $94.2 billion in the period, in line with Apple's guidance during its previous earnings report. That represents a 5% increase from the year-earlier period. The quarter includes about a week or so of sales of the latest iPhones, Apple Watches and AirPods — so it's an important picture of how the new products are selling. | 
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