Bryan Lee, Zune chief at Microsoft submitted his resignation this week,
according to a company announcement.
The announcement was made internally with Lee's message that he was leaving
the software giant to "pursue personal interests." Despite his plans to leave,
Lee will remain in his role as corporate vice president of Microsoft's
entertainment and devices division for several more weeks.
Microsoft will appoint J Allard, its corporate vice president of the design
and development, entertainment and devices division, to replace Lee.
Allard is responsible for both Microsoft's Zune and Xbox gaming console.
Allard is also recognized at Microsoft for being a founding member of its
Windows NT family of products as well as being part of Microsoft's TCP/IP
networking group.
Microsoft launched its Zune portable multimedia player last November. Zune
sold well at first, but sales numbers dropped sharply after initial shipments.
Earlier in the year, Apple launched several new iPod products, including an
all new line of metallic iPod Nano's, a new iPod and a redesigned iPod Shuffle.
Christmas sales of portable digital music players were dominated by the iPod.
Prior to being the Zune chief at Microsoft, Lee was also the chief financial
officer of its entertainment division.