Microsoft Zune Chief Lee to Retire; Allard Takes Over

Microsoft said Vice President Bryan Lee, who led the release of its Zune music player, will retire in the next several weeks and be replaced by J Allard, who oversaw the device's design and development.

Lee, a six-year Microsoft veteran, had been in charge of Zune's business development and marketing. Allard will take over those tasks, the company said today in a statement.

Zune went on sale in November, challenging Apple's dominant iPod player. Microsoft, the world's largest software maker, had 2.8 percent of the U.S. market for portable media players in December, according to research firm NPD Group Apple had 72 percent.

Lee, 43, had previously served as chief financial officer for the company's home and entertainment group, now called entertainment and devices, which includes the Xbox video-game console and Zune. He developed the business plans for both Xbox and Zune.

Molly O'Donnell, a spokeswoman for the entertainment and devices division, said Lee's decision was personal and had nothing to do with the performance of Zune.

"People will always read tea leaves, but the truth remains that this is just a natural course of organizational changes," she said. O'Donnell said Microsoft is on pace to meet its goal of selling more than 1 million Zune devices by June 30. Apple sold 21.1 million iPods last quarter alone.

Allard, 38, also served as an Xbox vice president and is known at the company for a 1993 memo that alerted Chairman Bill Gates to the importance of the Internet. When Gates announced in June he will be stepping down from his day-to-day role at the company in two years, Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer identified Allard as one of a handful of technologists who will help fill the void left by Gates.