Amicable split
Almost two years after it announced its cunning plan to turn around its flagging fortunes, US communications hardware outfit Motorola has completed its split into Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions.
Mobility will be headed up by former Qualcomm man Sanjay Jha, and will focus on mobile devices as well as other consumer devices, such as set-top boxes and other video solutions. Solutions will be run by Greg Brown and will specialize in communications solutions for enterprise.
"We are pleased that Motorola Mobility has reached this important milestone. After more than two years of planning, today we begin operating as a financially strong, independent company trading on the New York Stock Exchange," said Jha, "With more than 20,000 employees globally, 24,500 patents granted and pending, and a highly recognizable brand, we are able to deliver cutting-edge devices with differentiated software experiences."
"With a purpose-driven brand and a strong balance sheet, we are very well positioned for the future," said Brown. "Motorola Solutions has an outstanding platform to build from and I believe our opportunities for growth will benefit customers, shareholders and employees."
While Mobility would be more accurately be called Motorola Consumer, the name belies its primary concern. Moto has committed itself absolutely to Android as the future of its phone operations, and had a big 2010, with 23 launches globally. We've been using a Milestone for some time, and have found it measures up well to offerings from its two biggest Android competitors: Samsung and HTC.
But innovation in the smartphone market is relentless, and the Milestone is starting to look a bit aged in comparison with things like the HTC Desire HD. Moto could also do with speeding up its release of Android updates.
If what we're hearing is right, the next version of Android could be a biggie for Moto. Honeycomb will be the first version to be optimised for tablets, and Moto is expected to launch the first tablet to run it. Given Google's MO with Android, this probably means Moto has also had a head start on developing on it.
We suspect these are just the sort of advantages Moto will need if it's to compete with giants like Samsung or smartphone specialists like HTC. For the sake of competition, at least, we wish Motorola Mobility well.
