Motorola Mobile Devices
Encyclopedia
Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. , formerly the Mobile Devices division of Motorola Inc.
until January 2011, is a communications corporation headquartered in Libertyville, Illinois
, a Chicago suburb. Motorola's networks division (named Personal Communication Section (PCS) before 2004) pioneered the flip phone with the StarTAC in the mid-1990s. Motorola had a commanding lead in the analog cellphone market, but failed to move quickly to digital
technology, allowing global rivals such as Nokia
and Samsung Electronics
to leap ahead.
Motorola continued to experience severe problems with its handset division in second half of the decade, recording a $1.2 billion loss in Q4 2007. Its global market share continued to decline; from 18.4% of the market in 2007, dropping nearly in half to 9.7% by 2008. By 2010, Motorola's global market share had dropped to seventh place.
On August 15, 2011, Google
announced that it had agreed to acquire the company for US$12.5 billion. The acquisition included a sizeable portfolio of patents owned by Motorola.
s and the Home business which produces set-top box
es and end-to-end video solutions.
. Motorola released other phones based on the RAZR design. These include the PEBL U6, SLVR L6, SLVR L7 (more expensive variant of SLVR L6), RAZR V3c (CDMA
), RAZR V3i (with upgraded camera and appearance), V3x (supports 3G
technology and has a 2 MP camera), RAZR V3xx (supports 3.5G technology) and RAZR maxx V6 (supports 3.5G technology and has a 2 MP camera) announced on July 2006.
Unfortunately, Motorola capitalized on the RAZR too long and it was also slow adopting 3G. The company lost market share to Samsung and LG Electronics. By 2007, without new cellphones that carriers wanted to offer, Motorola sold tens of millions of RAZRs and their offshoots by slashing prices, causing margins to collapse in the process. Under Zander, Ron Garriques who was responsible for the successful RAZR departed for Dell Inc., while Stu Reed failed to turn around the struggling mobile handset division.
's Android operating system and in October 2009, Motorola
announced a forthcoming smartphone
named "Droid
" that launched on the Verizon
network on November 6, 2009. "Droid" was a major success for Motorola Mobile Devices. It received the prestigious "Time
Gadget of the Year" award in 2009. In 2010, Motorola launched "Droid X" and "Droid 2". Droid X was a major success, which has helped Motorola to regain much of its market share in the US.
was released on February 22 as the world's first phone with both a Dual-Core Processor and 1GB of RAM. The phone also had optional peripherals such as a Multimedia Dock and a Laptop Dock which launched a Webtop UI.
Soon after the Atrix release, Motorola released the Xoom
tablet two days later on February 24 as the world's first Android 3.0 tablet, and followed it up shortly afterwards with an update to make it the world's first Android 3.1 tablet.
portfolio. The company's Android operating system has recently come under fire in an industry-wide patent battle, in which Android manufacturers HTC, Motorola, and Samsung have been sued for alleged patent infringement, by Microsoft
, Oracle
and Apple. The Motorola Mobility acqusition is considered a means of protecting the viability of Android. Google has stated that it will run Motorola as an independent company. On November 17, 2011, Motorola announced that its shareholders voted in favor of the company's acquisition by Google Inc. for $12.5 billion.
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational 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...
until January 2011, is a communications corporation headquartered in Libertyville, Illinois
Libertyville, Illinois
Libertyville is an affluent northern suburb of Chicago in Lake County, Illinois, United States. It is located west of Lake Michigan on the Des Plaines River. The 2000 census population was 20,742; the 2005 estimate was 21,760...
, a Chicago suburb. Motorola's networks division (named Personal Communication Section (PCS) before 2004) pioneered the flip phone with the StarTAC in the mid-1990s. Motorola had a commanding lead in the analog cellphone market, but failed to move quickly to digital
Digital
A digital system is a data technology that uses discrete values. By contrast, non-digital systems use a continuous range of values to represent information...
technology, allowing global rivals such as Nokia
Nokia
Nokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
and Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics
Samsung Electronics is a South Korean multinational electronics and information technology company headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul...
to leap ahead.
Motorola continued to experience severe problems with its handset division in second half of the decade, recording a $1.2 billion loss in Q4 2007. Its global market share continued to decline; from 18.4% of the market in 2007, dropping nearly in half to 9.7% by 2008. By 2010, Motorola's global market share had dropped to seventh place.
On August 15, 2011, Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
announced that it had agreed to acquire the company for US$12.5 billion. The acquisition included a sizeable portfolio of patents owned by Motorola.
History
Motorola Mobility was formerly known as the Mobile Devices division of Motorola until it was spun-off as a separate entity in January of 2011. Motorola Mobility consists of the Mobile Devices business which produces smartphoneSmartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
s and the Home business which produces set-top box
Set-top box
A set-top box or set-top unit is an information appliance device that generally contains a tuner and connects to a television set and an external source of signal, turning the signal into content which is then displayed on the television screen or other display device.-History:Before the...
es and end-to-end video solutions.
Resurgence
In 2002–2003, Motorola's Mobile Devices department reinvented itself. Three areas of significant improvement were user friendliness, design and brand. Motorola started paying more attention to the user experience, and models such as the v300, v400 and v600 (called the triplets) were among the devices that were easy to use. In addition to ease of use, Motorola also stressed design and brand image. The result of the focus in these aspects led to the RAZR V3.RAZR
In 2004, Motorola released the RAZR V3Motorola RAZR V3
Motorola RAZR is a series of clamshell mobile phones by Motorola, and is one of the series in the 4LTR line. They were first developed in July 2003 and were released in the market in the third quarter of 2004....
. Motorola released other phones based on the RAZR design. These include the PEBL U6, SLVR L6, SLVR L7 (more expensive variant of SLVR L6), RAZR V3c (CDMA
Code division multiple access
Code division multiple access is a channel access method used by various radio communication technologies. It should not be confused with the mobile phone standards called cdmaOne, CDMA2000 and WCDMA , which are often referred to as simply CDMA, and use CDMA as an underlying channel access...
), RAZR V3i (with upgraded camera and appearance), V3x (supports 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
technology and has a 2 MP camera), RAZR V3xx (supports 3.5G technology) and RAZR maxx V6 (supports 3.5G technology and has a 2 MP camera) announced on July 2006.
Unfortunately, Motorola capitalized on the RAZR too long and it was also slow adopting 3G. The company lost market share to Samsung and LG Electronics. By 2007, without new cellphones that carriers wanted to offer, Motorola sold tens of millions of RAZRs and their offshoots by slashing prices, causing margins to collapse in the process. Under Zander, Ron Garriques who was responsible for the successful RAZR departed for Dell Inc., while Stu Reed failed to turn around the struggling mobile handset division.
Android range
Motorola shifted its Operating systems from their proprietary software to GoogleGoogle
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
's Android operating system and in October 2009, Motorola
Motorola
Motorola, Inc. was an American multinational 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...
announced a forthcoming smartphone
Smartphone
A smartphone is a high-end mobile phone built on a mobile computing platform, with more advanced computing ability and connectivity than a contemporary feature phone. The first smartphones were devices that mainly combined the functions of a personal digital assistant and a mobile phone or camera...
named "Droid
Motorola Droid
The Motorola Droid is an Internet and multimedia enabled smartphone designed by Motorola, which runs Google's Android operating system. The Droid had been publicized under the codenames Sholes and Tao and the model number A855...
" that launched on the Verizon
Verizon Wireless
Cellco Partnership, doing business as Verizon Wireless, is one of the largest mobile network operators in the United States. The network has 107.7 million subscribers as of 2011, making it the largest wireless service provider in America....
network on November 6, 2009. "Droid" was a major success for Motorola Mobile Devices. It received the prestigious "Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
Gadget of the Year" award in 2009. In 2010, Motorola launched "Droid X" and "Droid 2". Droid X was a major success, which has helped Motorola to regain much of its market share in the US.
Spinoff
The division began trading as a separate independent company on January 4, 2011.Atrix 4G and Droid Bionic
On January 5, 2011, Motorola Mobility announced that the Atrix 4G and the Droid Bionic were headed to AT&T and Verizon (respectively), with expected release dates in Q1 of 2011. The AtrixMotorola Atrix 4G
The Motorola Atrix 4G is a high-end Android-based smartphone by Motorola, introduced in CES 2011 on January 5, 2011. It was made available in the first quarter of 2011. It was introduced along with three other products, Motorola Xoom, Motorola Droid Bionic, and Motorola Cliq 2. It uses an NVIDIA...
was released on February 22 as the world's first phone with both a Dual-Core Processor and 1GB of RAM. The phone also had optional peripherals such as a Multimedia Dock and a Laptop Dock which launched a Webtop UI.
Soon after the Atrix release, Motorola released the Xoom
Motorola Xoom
The Motorola Xoom is an Android-based tablet computer by Motorola, introduced at CES 2011 on January 5, 2011. It was the first tablet to be sold with Android 3.0 Honeycomb. The Verizon branded Xoom was the first tablet to run Android 3.1 Honeycomb, however the 3.1 update has not yet been provided...
tablet two days later on February 24 as the world's first Android 3.0 tablet, and followed it up shortly afterwards with an update to make it the world's first Android 3.1 tablet.
Acquisition by Google
On August 15, 2011, Google announced that it would acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion, subject to approval from regulators in the United States and Europe. In a post on Google's blog, Google Chief Executive Officer and co-founder, Larry Page, revealed that Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility is a strategic move to strengthen Google's patentPatent
A patent is a form of intellectual property. It consists of a set of exclusive rights granted by a sovereign state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for the public disclosure of an invention....
portfolio. The company's Android operating system has recently come under fire in an industry-wide patent battle, in which Android manufacturers HTC, Motorola, and Samsung have been sued for alleged patent infringement, by Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
, Oracle
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
and Apple. The Motorola Mobility acqusition is considered a means of protecting the viability of Android. Google has stated that it will run Motorola as an independent company. On November 17, 2011, Motorola announced that its shareholders voted in favor of the company's acquisition by Google Inc. for $12.5 billion.
Competitors
- NokiaNokiaNokia Corporation is a Finnish multinational communications corporation that is headquartered in Keilaniemi, Espoo, a city neighbouring Finland's capital Helsinki...
- HTCHTC-Companies:*HTC Corporation, a Taiwanese manufacturer of handheld devices*Harrisonville Telephone Company, a telephone company in Waterloo, Illinois*Horry Telephone Cooperative, a telephone cooperative in Horry County, South Carolina...
- Samsung ElectronicsSamsung ElectronicsSamsung Electronics is a South Korean multinational electronics and information technology company headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul...
- Sony EricssonSony EricssonSony Ericsson Mobile Communications AB is a joint venture established on October 1, 2001 by the Japanese consumer electronics company Sony Corporation and the Swedish telecommunications company Ericsson to manufacture mobile phones....
- LG ElectronicsLG ElectronicsLG Electronics is a global electronics and telecommunications company headquartered in Yeouido, Seoul, South Korea. The company operates its business through five divisions: mobile communications, home entertainment, home appliance, air conditioning and business solution...