Whistling an Unhappy Zune

An executive responsible for the newly launched Zune digital music player will be leaving Microsoft Corp. (Redmond, Wash.)

The software maker said Bryan Lee, a corporate vp in Microsoft's entertainment and devices division, was leaving for personal reasons and “absolutely not” related to sales of the music player, which came out in mid-November to soft reviews.

Zune lags far behind Apple Inc.'s iPod in the United States. Microsoft's device captured about 10 percent of the U.S. market for hard-drive-based MP3 players in December, while 85 percent of the market went to iPod.

Microsoft has said it expects to sell 1 million units in fiscal year that ends June 30, 2007.

Lee led business development and marketing efforts for the Zune. J Allard, another corporate vp who oversaw design and development, will assume Lee's Zune-related duties, after a transition period of several weeks.

Lee also oversaw Microsoft's eHome group, which handles Windows Media Center Edition and the company's television efforts. Those teams will now report to Robbie Bach, president of the entertainment and devices division.

Microsoft hired Lee in 2000 to work on business development for the Xbox video game console. He served as the first chief financial officer for the Entertainment and Devices division.

According to a Microsoft spokesperson, Lee “felt there was never a great time” to leave Microsoft, but that “after reaching this milestone, he's going to leave the company and pursue other things at this time.”