"I've always believed that 10 years was long enough to sit in this role," Thompson said in a call with financial analysts Monday.

Come April, Thompson will remain as chairman of Symantec's board of directors, but in an interview following the call he said his immediate retirement plans involve spending "a lot more time" in Hawaii.

A supporter of President-elect Barack Obama, Thompson has been considered a possible appointee to the incoming Obama administration. Thompson said he has had no conversations with the Obama camp and has no plans to work in Washington.

But he didn't entirely rule out the possibility. "Clearly if I were to get a call from the president-elect, it would be not only stupid, but unpatriotic to not take the call and consider anything that he might want to chat with me about," he said.

Salem, 43, had been groomed for the post since Symantec acquired his antispam company, Brightmail, in 2004. He headed Symantec's consumer business and then the worldwide salesforce before being promoted to COO in January of this year.