Motorola
Motorola, Inc. (/ˌmoʊtəˈroʊlə/[2]) was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded in 1928 as Galvin Manufacturing Corporation by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin.[3] The company changed its name to Motorola in 1947.[4] After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, Motorola was split into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions, on January 4, 2011.[5] The reorganization was structured with Motorola Solutions legally succeeding Motorola, Inc., and Motorola Mobility being spun off.[6]
This article is about the original company prior to its split in 2011. For the present-day companies of this name, see Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions. For other uses, see Motorola (disambiguation).Formerly
Galvin Manufacturing Corporation (1928–1947)
NYSE: MOT
September 25, 1928
- Paul Galvin
- Joseph Galvin
January 4, 2011
Split into Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions
Motorola Mobility
Motorola Solutions
Freescale Semiconductor
ON Semiconductor
Arris Group (General Instrument)
Cambium Networks
NXP Semiconductors
Schaumburg, Illinois, U.S.
Worldwide
53,000 (2010)[1]
Mobile Devices
Home & Networks Mobility
Enterprise Mobility Solutions
www.motorola.com (archived December 31, 2010)
Motorola designed and sold wireless network equipment such as cellular transmission base stations and signal amplifiers. Motorola's home and broadcast network products included set-top boxes, digital video recorders, and network equipment used to enable video broadcasting, computer telephony, and high-definition television. Its business and government customers consisted mainly of wireless voice and broadband systems (used to build private networks), and public safety communications systems like Astro and Dimetra. These businesses, except for set-top boxes and cable modems, became part of Motorola Solutions.
Motorola's wireless telephone handset division was a pioneer in cellular telephones. Also known as the Personal Communication Sector (PCS) prior to 2004, it pioneered the "mobile phone" with the first truly mobile "brick phone" DynaTAC, "flip phone" with the MicroTAC as well as the "clam phone" with the StarTAC in the mid-1990s. It had staged a resurgence by the mid-2000s with the RAZR, but lost market share in the second half of that decade. Later it focused on smartphones using Google's open-source Android mobile operating system. The first phone to use Android 2.0 "Eclair", the Motorola Droid, was released in 2009 (the GSM version launched a month later, in Europe, as the Motorola Milestone).[7][8] The handset division, along with the cable set-top box and modem businesses, were later spun off into Motorola Mobility.
At the time of its split, Motorola had three divisions:[47]
Finances[edit]
Motorola's handset division recorded a loss of $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007, while the company as a whole earned $100 million during that quarter.[48] It lost several key executives to rivals,[49] and the website TrustedReviews called the company's products repetitive and un-innovative.[50] Motorola laid off 3,500 workers in January 2008,[51] followed by a further 4,000 job cuts in June[52] and another 20% cut of its research division a few days later.[53] In July 2008, a large number of executives left Motorola to work on Apple Inc.'s iPhone.[54] The company's handset division was also put on offer for sale.[55] Also that month, analyst Mark McKechnie from American Technology Research said that Motorola "would be lucky to fetch $500 million" for selling its handset business. Analyst Richard Windsor said that Motorola might have to pay someone to take the division off the company's hands, and that Motorola may even exit the handset market altogether.[56] Its global market share has been on the decline; from 18.4% of the market in 2007 the company had a share of just 6.0% by Q1 2009, but at last, Motorola scored a profit of $26 million in Q2 and showed an increase of 12% in stocks for the first time after losses in many quarters. During the second quarter of 2010, the company reported a profit of $162 million, which compared very favorably to the $26 million earned for the same period the year before. Its Mobile Devices division reported, for the first time in years, earnings of $87 million.[57]
Environmental record[edit]
Motorola, Inc., along with the Arizona Water Co. had been identified as the sources of trichloroethylene (TCE) contamination that took place in Scottsdale, Arizona. The malfunction led to a ban on the use of water that lasted three days and affected almost 5000 people in the area. Motorola was found to be the main source of the TCE, an industrial solvent that is thought to cause cancer. The TCE contamination was caused by a faulty blower on an air stripping tower that was used to take TCE from the water, and Motorola has attributed the situation to operator error.[58]
Of eighteen leading electronics manufacturers in Greenpeace's Guide to Greener Electronics (October 2010), Motorola shared sixth place with competitors Panasonic and Sony.[59]
Motorola scored relatively well on the chemicals criteria and has a goal to eliminate PVC plastic and Brominated flame retardants (BFRs), though only in mobile devices and not in all its products introduced after 2010, despite the fact that Sony Ericsson and Nokia were already there. All of its mobile phones were now PVC-free and it had two PVC and BFR-free mobile phones, the A45 ECO and the GRASP; all chargers were also free from PVC and BFRs.[59]
The company was also increasing the proportion of recycled materials used in its products. For example, the housings for the MOTO W233 Renew and MOTOCUBO A45 Eco mobile phones contained plastic from post-consumer recycled water cooler bottles.[60] According to the company's information, all of Motorola's newly designed chargers met the current Energy Star requirements and exceed the requirements for standby/no-load modes by at least 67%.[61]