Microsoft may stick with Zune but we have learned that Bryan Lee won’t — the corporate VP-entertainment business is retiring “to pursue personal interests,” according to an internal memo from Robbie Bach, president of the Entertainment & Devices division. (Others have the story, too.) This is sure to kick Zune speculation into even higher gear. Lee, 43, didn’t sound like a man getting ready to leave a project like Zune when he and I spoke earlier this month and it’s hard not wonder what his departure says — if anything — about Zune’s trajectory or about the reported issues with Microsoft’s IPTV software, also his responsibility. J Allard, corporate VP-Design and Development, “will take over full Zune responsibilities, including the business, development and marketing.”
This also affects two other areas: Joe Belfiore, corporate VP, Entertainment and Devices eHome (Windows Media Center) division and Enrique Rodriguez, corporate VP, Microsoft TV Division, who both reported to Lee, will now report to Robbie Bach.
Bach on Lee: “I hired Bryan back in 2000 to drive business development for Xbox. Over the last 6 years I
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