Xbox product chief joins Sonos

Departure is the latest change to Microsoft's executive line-up since Satya Nadella became Microsoft chief executive in February

Marc Whitten, who led Microsoft's development of the Xbox One video-game console, is leaving for Sonos, the maker of multi-room speaker systems.

Whitten, who was chief product officer for Xbox, will have the title at Sonos, according to a blog post on Monday. He will start in the newly-created post at the beginning of April, Eric Nielsen, a spokesman for closely-held Sonos, said.

In a management overhaul in July, Whitten and his software team were moved out of Microsoft's hardware and game studios unit and began reporting to Terry Myerson, the executive vice-president overseeing operating systems for Windows, Windows Phone and the Xbox.

Whitten joined the Xbox team in 2000 and has worked on all three generations of the console including the Xbox One, introduced in November a week after Sony's PlayStation 4 machine. That console held the lead in US video-game unit sales in February, while the higher-priced Xbox One generated more revenue, according to researcher NPD Group.

Whitten also helped build the Xbox Live online service, which has 48 million members in 41 countries. His departure is the latest change to Microsoft's executive line-up since Satya Nadella became chief executive officer of the Redmond, Washington-based company in February.

Wireless music
The departure of Whitten also follows the exit of Don Mattrick, the former head of Microsoft's entertainment division who had led the effort to introduce the Xbox One and departed in July to take the CEO job at Zynga.

At Sonos, Whitten will oversee development at the company as it attempts to expand from its base of wireless music speaker enthusiasts to grab a bigger share of the $10-billion home-audio market.

Sonos equipment lets users stream music from computers, mobile devices and online services such as those from Pandora Media, Spotify and Beats Music LLC. The Santa Barbara, California-based company faces new challenges from wireless equipment developed by rivals including bigger consumer electronics makers such as Samsung Electronics.
THINKING OUT OF THE XBOX

• Marc Whitten joined the Xbox team in 2000 and has worked on all three generations of the console including the Xbox One
• Whitten, who was chief product officer for Xbox, will have the title at Sonos, according to a blog post on Monday