Around the Net
Microsoft Moves Mobile Heads
- All Things Digital, Tuesday, December 13, 2011 11:46 AM
AllThingsD reports that Microsoft is replacing Andy Lees as head of its Windows Phone Business -- sort of. Terry Myerson, the corporate vice president who has led engineering efforts for the phone unit, will add business development, marketing and other responsibilities, according to AllThingsD.
“He will not, at least for now, though, get the division president title that Lees had.” Meanwhile, Lees, who has headed Windows Phone for more than three years, will still report to CEO Steve Ballmer and focus on ways Microsoft can work across multiple types of devices from phones to slates to PCs. “I have asked Andy Lees to move to a new role working for me on a time-critical opportunity focused on driving maximum impact in 2012 with Windows Phone and Windows 8,” Ballmer said in an internal memo seen by AllThingsD.
“We have tremendous potential with Windows Phone and Windows 8, and this move sets us up to really deliver against that potential.” These moves must be seen in the context of Microsoft’s struggling mobile efforts. At the company’s analyst meeting in September, Ballmer himself said that Windows Phone sales haven’t lived up to expectations.
