Xbox Further Strengthens European Executive Team with New Regional Appointments
LONDON - UK - 8th April 2005 - Xbox today announced three additions to the European Xbox management team, bringing with them a wealth of entertainment, gaming and business expertise to help lead the business into the next-generation. Chris Lewis, Vice President, Home and Entertainment Division, EMEA leads a highly experienced team of industry expertise, with seasoned executives such as Michel Cassius, Neil Thompson, Stephan Brechtmann, Julie Derry and Rob Sullivan* who were instrumental in establishing Xbox as a gaming force across the region. On the heels of 14 consecutive months of increased market share for Xbox, the new team members join this already formidable force as they strive to fortify and build upon the strong position Xbox has in the interactive entertainment market.
Stefan Lampinen joins the European organisation as EMEA Sales Director, replacing Owen Roberts (now Senior Director, Sales, Home and Retail Division, Redmond). Stefan will lead the Xbox EMEA sales team as they continue to expand the distribution network to an even broader range of retail outlets, maintaining and building retail relations across the EMEA region. His role covers Xbox, Xbox games, Xbox Live and all Xbox consumer products.
A veteran of the video and mobile game industry, Lampinen was previously Director of Strategy and Business Development for Nokias Games Business Unit, launching the Nokia N-Gage platform whilst in this role. Prior to that, he spent eight years at Electronic Arts where he served in various executive management positions including: Managing Director and Vice President of EAs Central European region and Vice President of European Sales.
The Central and Southern European region also welcomes a new addition to the team, with the arrival of Francisco Arteche as Senior Regional Director for the Home and Entertainment Division. With specific responsibility for all Xbox activity, his experience will be instrumental in helping drive the continued success of Xbox in this region. He will also manage Microsofts consumer business across the region. Arteche is based in Spain.
An Industrial Engineer graduate from the University of Navarre, Spain, Arteche joins the Xbox team from the ADESE (Asociacin Espaola de Software de Entretenimiento) where he spent two years as chairman. He also was a dedicated board member of ISFE (Interactive Software Federation of Europe) where he formed part of the team that spearheaded the launch of the PEGI (Pan European Game Information). Prior to that, Arteche was General Manager at Electronic Arts focussing his efforts on Spain and Portugal.
The third appointment is that of Francois Ruault, who joined the team late last year as Director, Home and Entertainment Division France, looking after all of Microsofts consumer business, in addition to driving Xbox forward. With over 10 years experience working with the Apple Corporation, Ruault is perfectly poised to continue to build Xbox as a major gaming and entertainment force across the region.
Ruault joined Apple from BBDO Advertising as Advertising Manager for Europe. He continued his career first as Consumer Marketing Manager where he launched the iMac and then the iBook. His promotion to Consumer Business Unit Director saw him at the forefront of the launch of the music phenomenon the iPod - a market leader and icon within the digital music industry.
"I am very pleased to have Stefan, Francisco and Francois joining our EMEA team" said Chris Lewis, Vice President, Home and Entertainment Division, EMEA. "The regional team are incredibly important to the success of the Xbox business and we welcome these three talented individuals to an exceptionally strong group of people, working to continue and increase our success in the region. The blend of proven video games and entertainment industry expertise we are fusing together with established Microsoft talent will prove critical to our future success. When I look at the calibre of the people we have on board I am inspired and confident about the future for Xbox and the next-generation."
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*Note to Editors
Stephan Brechtmann, Director, Home & Entertainment Division, Germany
Michel Cassius, Senior Director, Xbox Platform & Marketing
Neil Thompson, Regional Director, Home & Entertainment, UK & Northern Ireland
Julie Derry, Business Director HED EMEA
Rob Sullivan, Financial Director HED EMEA
About Xbox
Xbox (http://www.xbox.com) is the video game system from Microsoft that brings people together for the most exhilarating game and entertainment experiences. Xbox delivers an expansive collection of breakthrough games, powerful hardware and the unified Xbox Live online service. The new tagline, its good to play together, captures the spirit of Xbox as the social hub of the new digital entertainment lifestyle. Xbox is now available in Europe for an estimated street price of 149.99/99.99.