Symantec’s Australian operation has been hit by the sudden exit of its two most senior executives, Pacific region vice president David Sykes and Asia-Pacific and Japan vice president for channels John Donovan.
The departures closely follow moves in the US that saw Symantec group president Kriftof Hagerman and senior vice president James Socas leave the company after it posted a 60% fall in quarterly revenue this week.
Operating income fell 32% to $US193 million during the first half of the fiscal year.
Symantec’s Australian office confirmed that Sykes and Donovan left the company yesterday, but declined to elaborate on the circumstances of their departure.
The departures come at the end of what has proven to be a difficult year for Symantec.
The year has seen its market share in the consumer antivirus and computer security market eroded.
In May, the company suffered enraged customers in China after a glitch in its Norton security product misidentified a legitimate Microsoft Windows update file as a piece of malicious software code, crippling thousands of computers.
The incident saw Symantec pilloried in China’s government-owned press after it offered free software rather than compensation to customers affected by the incident.
The customers had been demanding financial damages payments.
- Australian Financial Review