Zune Exec Goes Zune

Second place just isn’t good enough for Microsoft. Bryan Lee, the executive behind the Zune launch, is leaving Redmond to pursue other interests.

Lee came over to the Zune division from the Xbox side and was in on it from the beginning. His baby hit the market late last year to a resounding thud, making a nary dent in Apple’s dominating market share. Those numbers, at last count, gave the Zune a full 10 percent of the market. That’s good enough for Number 2 but not good enough for the folks in Redmond. And even though Microsoft says that it expects to sell 1 million Zunes by June 30, that number pales in comparison to Apple’s sales figures, which comprise a staggering 85 percent of the market.

Lee also played a significant role in the deal with Universal to secure sharing rights for a host of popular digital tracks—a deal that has since gone sour.

Lee was also in charge of the eHome division, which dealt with the Media Center Edition and various TV ventures.