Andy Lees moves on from heading up WP7
Terry Myerson to take responsibility as Lees takes new opportunity
Microsoft's head of Windows Phone 7, Andy Lees, has been given a new role in the company dealing with Windows 8 and its potential applications across platforms, an internal memo indicates.
The memo, seen by All Things Digital, comes from CEO Steve Ballmer, praising Lees for his three year tenure, but stressing the importance of his new role.
"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," wrote Ballmer.
"We have tremendous potential with Windows Phone and Windows 8, and this move sets us up to really deliver against that potential.
"In the three years Andy has been leading the phone group, we've come a long way. We reset our strategy, built a strong team that delivered [Windows Phone 7] and [the Mango update] and created critical new partnerships and ecosystem around Windows Phone. That is a ton of progress in a brief period of time, and I'm excited for Terry and team to keep driving forward and for Andy to dig into a new challenge."
Taking over from Lees' duties, albeit without his job title just yet, will be Terry Myerson, the corporate VP behind the engineering side of the Windows Phone 7 initiative.