Sonicblue bumps top exec

Struggling consumer-electronics maker Sonicblue announced several executive changes Friday, a day after narrowly missing analysts' earnings expectations. The biggest change comes from the chief operating officer position. COO John Todd will move into a consulting capacity immediately, the company said. He joined Sonicblue just under a year ago after leaving PC maker Gateway where he was the chief financial officer. Company representatives said Sonicblue is not looking for a new COO at this time. Todd is the second executive at the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company to move out of upper management this month. Earlier this month, David Sugishita left the company after serving as chief financial officer for less than two months. Todd took over as interim CFO. The company announced Thursday that Marcus Smith will be taking over as acting CFO immediately. Smith has been the company's vice president of finance for the past year. During the company's first-quarter earnings call Thursday, Chief Executive Ken Potashner said that there would be additional executive changes in the near future. In midday trading, Sonicblue shares were down 64 cents, almost 25 percent, to $1.95. --Richard Shim, Special to ZDNet News