Motorola, Inc. ( /moʊtɵˈroʊlə/) was an American multinational^[5] telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois, which was eventually divided into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions on January 4, 2011, after losing $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009.^[6] Motorola Solutions is generally considered to be the direct successor to Motorola, Inc., as the reorganization was structured with Motorola Mobility being spun off.^[7]

Motorola designed and sold wireless network infrastructure 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) are now part of Motorola Solutions.

Motorola's wireless telephone handset division was a pioneer in cellular telephones. Known as the Personal Communication Sector (PCS) prior to 2004, it pioneered the "flip phone" with the MicroTAC—and, the "clam phone" with the StarTAC -- in the mid-1990s. It had staged an enormously successful resurgence by the mid-2000s with the RAZR; but, lost significant market share in the second half of that decade. Lately, it has focused on smartphones using Google's open-source Android mobile operating system. The first phone to use the newest version of Google's open source OS, Android 2.0, was released on November 2, 2009 as the Motorola Droid (the GSM version launched a month later, in Europe, as the Motorola Milestone). The handset division, (along with cable set-top boxes and cable modems) has since then been spun off into the independent Motorola Mobility. On May 22, 2012, Google CEO Larry Page announced that Google closed on its deal to acquire Motorola Mobility.^[8]

History[link]

Local branch in Glostrup, Denmark.

Motorola started in Chicago, Illinois as Galvin Manufacturing Corporation (at 847 West Harrison Street)^[9] in 1928, with its first product being a battery eliminator. In 1930 Galvin Manufacturing Corporation introduced the Motorola radio, one of the first commercially successful car radios. Company founder Paul V. Galvin created the brand name Motorola for the car radio—linking "motor" (for motorcar) with "ola" (which implied sound). Thus the Motorola brand meant sound in motion.^[10] The name Motorola was adopted in 1930, and the word has been used as a trademark since the 1930s.^[11]

Many of Motorola's products have been radio-related, starting with a battery eliminator for radios, through the first walkie-talkie in the world in 1940, defense electronics, cellular infrastructure equipment, and mobile phone manufacturing. In the same year, the company built its research and development program with Dan Noble, a pioneer in FM radio and semiconductor technologies joined the company as director of research.

In 1943, Motorola went public and in 1947, the name changed to its present name. At this time, Motorola's main business was producing and selling televisions and radios. Motorola produced the hand-held AM SCR-536 radio during World War II, which was vital to Allied communication.

In October 1946 Motorola communications equipment carried the first calls on Illinois Bell Telephone Company's new car radiotelephone service in Chicago, Illinois, USA.

In 1952 Motorola opened its first international subsidiary in Toronto, Canada to produce radios and televisions. In 1953, Motorola established the Motorola Foundation to support leading universities in the United States.

In 1955, years after Motorola started its research and development laboratory in Phoenix, Arizona to research new solid-state technology, Motorola introduced the world's first commercial high-power germanium-based transistor. The present "batwing" logo was also introduced in 1955 (having been created by award-winning Chicago graphic designer Morton Goldsholl in late 1954).

Beginning in 1958 with Explorer 1, Motorola provided radio equipment for most NASA space-flights for decades including during the 1969 moon landing. A year later, it established a subsidiary to conduct licensing and manufacturing for international markets.

In 1960 Motorola introduced the world's first "large-screen" (19-inch), transistorized, cordless portable television.

In 1963 Motorola, which had very successfully begun making televisions in 1947, introduced the world's first truly rectangular color TV. The [[Cathode ray tube|tube, developed in a joint venture with National Video Corporation quickly became the industry standard.

In 1964 Motorola opened its first company Research and Development branch out side of the United States, in Israel under the management of Moses Basin.

In 1969 Neil Armstrong spoke the famous words "one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind" from the Moon on a Motorola transceiver.^[12]

In 1973, Motorola demonstrated the first hand-held portable telephone.^[13]

In 1974, Motorola sold its television business to the Japan-based parent company of Panasonic.

In 1976, Motorola moved to its present headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois.

Dr. Martin Cooper of Motorola made the first private handheld mobile phone call on a larger prototype model in 1973. This is a reenactment in 2007.

In September 1983, the firm made history when the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) approved the DynaTAC 8000X telephone, the world's first commercial cellular device. By 1998, cellphones accounted for two thirds of Motorola's gross revenue.^[14] The company was also strong in semiconductor technology, including integrated circuits used in computers. In particular, it is well known for the 6800 family and 68000 family of microprocessors used in Atari ST, Commodore Amiga, Color Computer, and Apple Macintosh personal computers. The PowerPC family was developed with IBM and in a partnership with Apple (known as the AIM alliance). Motorola also has a diverse line of communication products, including satellite systems, digital cable boxes and modems.

In 1986, Motorola invented the Six Sigma quality improvement process. This became a global standard. In 1990, General Instrument Corporation, which was later acquired by Motorola, proposed the first all-digital HDTV standard. In the same year, the company introduced the Bravo numeric pager which became the world's best-selling pager.

In 1991, Motorola demonstrated the world's first working-prototype digital cellular system and phones using GSM standard in Hanover, Germany. In 1994, Motorola introduced the world's first commercial digital radio system that combined paging, data and cellular communications and voice dispatch in a single radio network and handset. In 1995 Motorola introduced the world's first two-way pager which allowed users to receive text messages and e-mail and reply with a standard response.

In 1998, Motorola was overtaken by Nokia as the world's biggest seller of mobile phone handsets.^[12]

On September 15, 1999, Motorola announced it would buy General Instrument in an $11 billion stock swap. General Instrument had long been the No. 1 cable TV equipment provider, supplying cable operators with end-to-end hybrid fiber coax cable solutions. This meant that GI offers all cable TV transmission network components from the head-end to the fiber optic transmission nodes to the cable set-top boxes, now at the availability of Motorola.

In June 2000, Motorola and Cisco supplied the world's first commercial GPRS cellular network to BT Cellnet in the United Kingdom. The world's first GPRS cell phone was also developed by Motorola.

In 2002, Motorola introduced the world's first wireless cable modem gateway which combined a high-speed cable modem router with an ethernet switch and wireless home gateway.

In 2003, Motorola introduced the world's first handset to combine a Linux operating system and Java technology with "full PDA functionality".

In June 2005 Motorola overtook the intellectual property of Sendo for $30,000 and paid £362,575 for the plant, machinery and equipment.^[15]

In June 2006, Motorola acquired the world-class software platform (AJAR) developed by the British company TTP Communications plc.^[16]

In 2006, the firm announced a music subscription service named iRadio. The technology came after a break in a partnership with Apple Computer (which in 2005 had produced an iTunes compatible cell phone ROKR E1, and most recently, mid 2007, its own iPhone). iRadio has many similarities with existing satellite radio services (such as Sirius and XM Radio) by offering live streams of commercial-free music content. Unlike satellite services, however, iRadio content will be downloaded via a broadband internet connection. As of 2008, iRadio has not been commercially released and no further information is available.^[17]

In 2007, Motorola acquired Symbol Technologies, Inc. to provide products and systems for enterprise mobility solutions, including rugged mobile computing, advanced data capture and radio frequency identification (RFID).

January 2011 Motorola Splits into two different companies. Motorola Solutions (using a blue version of the Motorola logo) is based in Schaumburg, Illinois and would concentrate on police technologies, radios, and commercial needs. Motorola Mobility (using a red logo) is based in Libertyville and would be the mobile handset producer.

In August 2011, Google announced that it will purchase Motorola Mobility for about $12.5 billion.^[18] On November 17, 2011, Motorola Mobility stockholders “voted overwhelmingly to approve the proposed merger with Google Inc”.^[19]

Motorola creates numerous products for use by the government, public safety officials, business installments, and the general public. These products include cell phones, laptops, computer processors, and radio communication devices. The Motorola RAZR line has sold over 120 million units bringing the company to the number two mobile phone slot in 2005.

Since the 1950s, used Motorola radio equipment has been popular with amateur radio ("ham") operators. Known as "Ma Batwings," Motorola has provided little to no support to hobbyists, who keep using these radios for years or even decades after they were taken out of production.

Divisional Products:^[20]

• Enterprise Mobility Solutions: Headquarters located in Schaumburg, Illinois; comprises communications offered to government and public safety sectors and enterprise mobility business. Motorola develops analog and digital two-way radio, voice and data communications products and systems, mobile computing, advanced data capture, wireless infrastructure and RFID solutions to customers worldwide.

• Home & Networks Mobility: Headquarters located in Arlington Heights, Illinois; produces end-to-end systems that facilitate uninterrupted access to digital entertainment, information and communications services via wired and wireless mediums. Motorola develops digital video system solutions, interactive set-top devices, voice and data modems for digital subscriber line and cable networks, broadband access systems for cable and satellite television operators, and also wireline carriers and wireless service providers.

• Mobile Devices: Headquarters located in Libertyville, Illinois; currently the least prosperous arm of the firm; designs wireless handsets, but also licenses much of its intellectual properties. This includes cellular and wireless systems and as well as integrated applications and Bluetooth accessories.

Finances[link]

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Motorola's handset division recorded a loss of US$1.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007, while the company as a whole earned $100 million during that quarter.^[21] It lost several key executives to rivals,^[22] and the web site TrustedReviews called the company's products repetitive and uninnovative.^[23] Motorola laid off 3,500 workers in January 2008,^[24] followed by a further 4,000 job cuts in June^[25] and another 20% cut of its research division a few days later.^[26] In July 2008 a large number of executives left Motorola to work on Apple Inc.'s iPhone.^[27] The company's handset division was also put on offer for sale.^[28] 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.^[29] 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 last year. Its Mobile Devices division reported, for the first time in years, earnings of $87 million.^[30]

Spin-offs[link]

Television and radio manufacturing[link]

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In 1974, Motorola divested itself of its television and radio-manufacturing division, which included the popular Quasar brand of electronics. This division was acquired by Matsushita, already well-known under its Panasonic brand in North America, where it was looking to expand.

Iridium[link]

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Motorola developed the first truly global communication network using a set of 66 satellites. The business ambitions behind this project and the need for raising venture capital to fund the project led to the creation of the Iridium company in the late 1990s. While the technology was proven to work, Iridium failed to attract sufficient customers and it filed for bankruptcy in 1999. Obligations to Motorola and loss of expected revenue caused Motorola to spin off the ON Semiconductor (ONNN) business August 4, 1999, raising about $1.1 billion.

Motorola manufactured two satellite phone handsets for this network – the 9500 and 9505 as well as transceiver units. Some of these are still in production by an OEM but sold under the Iridium brand.

Government and defense[link]

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Further declines in business during 2000 and 2001 caused Motorola to spin off its government and defense business to General Dynamics. The business deal closed September 2001. Thus GD Decision Systems was formed (and later merged with General Dynamics C4 Systems) from Motorola's Integrated Information Systems Group.

Semiconductor[link]

On August 4, 1999 Motorola, Inc.'s Semiconductor Components Group, manufacturing Motorola's discrete, standard analog and standard logic devices was spun-off, recapitalized and established as an independent company named ON Semiconductor.

On October 16, 2003, Motorola announced that it would spin off its Semiconductor Products Sector into a separate company called Freescale Semiconductor, Inc.. The new company began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on July 16 of the following year.

Automotive[link]

In July, 2006 Motorola completed the sale of its automotive business to Continental AG. Motorola’s automotive unit had annual sales of $1.6 billion (€1.33 billion) and employed 4,500. The divisions products included telematics systems used for vehicle navigation and safety services, engine and transmission control electronics, vehicle control, electronics and sensors used in steering, braking, and power doors and power windows.

Biometrics[link]

In 2000, Motorola acquired Printrak International Inc.^[31] for $160 million.^[32] In doing so, Motorola not only acquired computer aided dispatch and related software, but also acquired Automated fingerprint identification system software.^[33]

In October, 2008, Motorola agreed to sell its Biometrics business to Safran, a French defense firm. Motorola's biometric business unit was headquartered in Anaheim, Calif. The deal closed in April, 2009.^[34] The unit became part of Sagem Morpho, which was renamed MorphoTrak.

Split[link]

On March 26, 2008, Motorola's board of directors approved a split into two different publicly traded companies. This came after talk of selling the handset division to another corporation. These new companies would comprise the business units of the current Motorola Mobile Devices and Motorola Broadband & Mobility Solutions. Originally it was expected that this action would be approved by regulatory bodies and complete by mid-2009, but the split was delayed due to company restructuring problems and the 2008–2009 extreme economic downturn.^[35]

On February 11, 2010, Motorola announced its separation into two independent, publicly traded companies,^[36] effective Q1 2011. The official split occurred at around 12:00 pm EST on January 4, 2011. The two new companies are called Motorola Mobility (NYSE: MMI; cell phone and cable television equipment company) and Motorola Solutions (NYSE: MSI; Government and Enterprise Business). Motorola Solutions is generally considered to be the direct successor to Motorola, Inc., as the reorganization was structured with Motorola Mobility being spunoff.^[7]

Motorola Mobility deal by Google[link]

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In fact, according to the filing, Google senior vice president Andy Rubin first reached out to Motorola Mobility in early July 2011 to discuss the purchase by some of Google’s competitors of the patent portfolio of Nortel Networks Corp., and to assess its potential impact on the Android ecosystem

Google boosted its offer for Motorola Mobility by 33% in a single day in early August, even though Motorola wasn’t soliciting competing bids. The aggressive bidding by Google showed that^{[citation needed]} the search giant was under considerable pressure to beef up its patent portfolio to protect its promising Android franchise from a growing number of legal challenges.

According to the filing, Google and Motorola began discussions about Motorola’s patent portfolio in early July, as well as the “intellectual property litigation and the potential impact of such litigation on the Android ecosystem.”

Although the two companies discussed the possibility of an acquisition after the initial contact by Mr. Rubin, it was only after Motorola pushed back on the idea of patent sale that the acquisition talks picked up steam.

The turning point came during a meeting on July 6. At the meeting, Motorola CEO Sanjay Jha discussed the protection of the Android ecosystem with Google senior vice president Nikesh Arora, and during that talk Jha told Arora that “it could be problematic for Motorola Mobility to continue to as a stand-alone entity if it sold a large portion of its patent portfolio.”

In connection with these discussions, the two companies signed a confidentiality and non-disclosure agreement that allowed Google to do due diligence on the company’s patent portfolio.

On July 21 and July 23, Jha met with Arora and Rubin to discuss strategic options between the two companies, agreeing to continue to discuss a potential sale.

On July 27, Motorola pushed the sale idea even harder when it requested that Google expand its confidentiality agreement to cover due diligence relating to a possible acquisition of Motorola.

Google got the message. The next day, Mr. Jha, Mr. Arora and Google chief legal officer David Drummond met to discuss the terms of an acquisition of the whole company. Arora and Drummond talked price for the first time, telling Jha that Google was considering an offer “in the range in the high $20s or low $30s.”

On August 1, Google sent Motorola a letter offering the company $30 a share, and requested a response by August 4. The same day Motorola hired Qatalyst Partners and Centerview as its advisors.

On August 5, Motorola, advised by Qatalyst Partners, rejected the offer and suggested $43.50. Qatalyst Partners suggested to Drummond that Google increase its price to $43.50 a share.

On Aug. 9, Arora came back with an offer of $37 a share over the phone to Jha. Jha told Arora that he would be prepared to recommend that its board consider accepting an offer of $40.50 or higher.

Later that day, Google responded with a new offer of $40 a share.

On August 14, Motorola director Daniel Ninivaggi told the board that Carl Icahn, a large shareholder of the company who had urged Motorola to explore alternatives to its patent portfolio, would support the proposed merger without a voting agreement.

On the morning of August 15, the two companies entered into a merger agreement at the offered price of $40.

On November 17, Motorola Mobility stockholders approved the proposed merger with Google Inc.

Bootloader controversy[link]

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In 2011, after a sizeable backlash from consumers, Motorola promised to have a bootloader unlock tool by the second half of 2011. After failing to do so, an uproar was again heard from the Android community. The term Operation: Make Ourselves Heard (#OPMOSH) was coined to identify the movement. An online petition was started and Motorolas Facebook page was inundated with posts demanding them to keep their word. Complaints to the FCC followed as the regulatory requirement for Block C devices states "Consumers should be able to download and utilize any software applications, content, or services they desire".

Quality systems[link]

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The Six Sigma quality system was developed at Motorola even though it became best known through its use by General Electric. It was created by engineer Bill Smith, under the direction of Bob Galvin (son of founder Paul Galvin) when he was running the company. Motorola University is one of many places that provide Six Sigma training.

Environmental record[link]

Motorola, Inc., along with the Arizona Water Co. has 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.^[37]

Motorola ranks 6th out of 18 leading electronics manufacturers in Greenpeace’s Guide to Greener Electronics of October 2010 (the company shares 6th place with its competitors Panasonic and Sony). ^[38]

Motorola scores relatively well on the chemicals criteria and has a goal to eliminate PVC vinyl 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 are already there. All of its mobile phones are now PVC-free and it has two PVC and BFR-free mobile phones, the A45 ECO and the GRASP; all chargers are also free from PVC and BFRs.^[38]

The company is also increasing the proportion of recycled materials that is used in its products. For example the housing for the MOTO W233 Renew and MOTOCUBO A45 Eco mobile phones contains plastic from post-consumer recycled water cooler bottles.^[39] According to the company’s information all of Motorola’s newly designed chargers meet the current Energy Star requirements and exceed the requirements for standby/ no-load modes by at least 67%.^[40]

Sponsorships[link]

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Motorola sponsored Scottish Premier League club Motherwell F.C. for 11 years. This long term deal ended after the company started to reduce its manufacturing operations in Scotland. The club also sponsored Livingston F.C. between 1998 and 2002. The company also had a plant on the edge of the town. However, this closed down at the same time as their sponsorship with the club ended. The South Stand at Livingston's Almondvale Stadium, was named after the company, during their time of sponsorship. The company also sponsored a cycling team that counted Lance Armstrong amongst its members. Motorola is also a large sponsor of Danica Patrick, David Beckham, and Fergie. It also Sponsored The Richmond Football Club in the Australian Football League from 2004 to 2007. Motorola sponsored São Paulo FC from 2000 to 2001. Motorola also sponsored Club Bolívar since 2008.

Robby Gordon was sponsored by Motorola in 2007 and 2008. Motorola is on Gordon's car in NASCAR 07 and NASCAR 08.

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See also[link]

• List of companies of the United States
• List of electronics companies

References[link]

Notes

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (August 2011)

Further reading

• Gart, Jason H. (2006). Electronics and Aerospace Industry in Cold War Arizona, 1945–1968 – Motorola, Hughes Aircraft, Goodyear Aircraft. Arizona State University.  Phd diss.
• http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2011/09/14/for-google-the-motorola-deal-was-all-about-the-patents-at-first

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Motorola

• Official website