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* [http://www.gatagat.com/motorola-mobility-google-acquires-motorola-mobility-for-12-5-billion/ Google Acquires Motorola Mobility For $12.5 Billion]


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Revision as of 15:46, 15 August 2011

Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc.
Company typePublic
NYSE: MMI
IndustryTelecommunications
PredecessorMotorola, Inc.
Founded1928-2011 (Motorola Inc.)
January 4, 2011-Present (Motorola Mobility)
SuccessorGoogle Inc.[1][2]
HeadquartersLibertyville, Illinois, U.S.
Key people
Sanjay Jha (Chairman and CEO)
ProductsMobile phones
RevenueIncrease US$ 11.460 billion (2010)[3]
Increase US$ 76 million (2010)[3]
Increase US$ -79 million (2010)[3]
Total assetsIncrease US$ 6.204 billion (2010)[3]
Total equityDecrease US$ 1.755 billion (2010)[3]
Number of employees
19,000 (2010)[3]
WebsiteMotorola.com

Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: MMI), 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 (called Personal Communication Section (PCS) prior to 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 jump on the digital bandwagon, giving a way for global rivals such as Nokia and Samsung Electronics to leap ahead.

Motorola continued to experience a major crisis with its handset division, which recorded a $1.2 billion loss in Q4 2007.[4] Its global market share had been continuously on the decline; from 18.4% of the market in 2007, it had a share of just 9.7% by 2008. In contrast, Motorola's rivals flourished and by July 2007, its long chasing South Korean rival, Samsung Electronics, surpassed it as the new world's 2nd largest handset maker - with a surge in market share in Q1 2008, Samsung now commands a large share of 16.4%.[clarification needed] Motorola was on the verge of losing its weak 3rd place position to the fast rising South Korean multinational LG Electronics, which overtook Sony Ericsson in Q1 2008 with a strong increase in market share to 8.6%.[5] In 2010, Motorola's global market share had dropped to seventh place.[6]

On August 15, 2011, Google announced that it had agreed to acquire the company [7] for 12.5 billion dollars.[8]

History

Main article: Motorola

Motorola Mobility was the mobile devices division of Motorola which was in founded 1928 and the home division [9]. The divisions began trading as a separate independent company on January 4, 2011. [10]

Proposed acquisition by Google

On August 15, 2011, Google announced that it would acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion[11][12] subjected to approval from regulators in the United States and Europe.

In a post on Google's blog, Google Chief Executive and co-founder, Larry Page revealed that Google's acquisition of Motorola Mobility is a strategic move to strengthen Google's patent portfolio. The company's Android operating system has recently come under fire in an industry-wide patent battle, as Apple and Microsoft have taken Android device makers like HTC, Samsung and Motorola to court.[13]

This purchase was made in part, to help Google gain Motorola's considerable patent portfolio on mobile phones and wireless technologies to help protect it in its ongoing patent disputes with other companies[14], mainly Apple, Microsoft, and Cisco,[15] and to allow it to continue to freely offer its Android OS.[16]

StarTAC

In 1996, Motorola introduced the StarTAC, which was a very successful cellphone until the late 2000s, launching originally on January 3, 1996 in North America.[17]

Key features

Some key features of the Motorola StarTAC were:

  • SMS text messages, although only the later digital models had the capability to send messages.
  • Introduced clamshell design
  • 88 grams[18] (3.1 ounces[17])
  • It could use an optional lithium-ion battery, at a time when most phones were restricted to lower capacity NiMH batteries
  • Was one of the first cellular phones to introduce vibrate alert as an alternative to a ringtone

Nokia took the lead

In the late 1990s, lack of design and a friendly user interface left a gaping hole in Motorola's product offerings.[citation needed] Nokia saw this,[19] and introduced stylish cellphones with a friendly human interface with features like a big screen and an easy to navigate menu. This was marketed as "human technology". Nokia's rise coincided with the cellphone revolution in several emerging markets such as India. Nokia quickly became the leader in market share worldwide.

HelloMoto, Motorola has a 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 first to boast an easy user interface. Coupled with this improvement, Motorola stressed design and brand image. The result of constant effort in this direction led to the RAZR V3.

RAZR

Motorola RAZR V3.

In 2004, Motorola released the RAZR V3. This phone has been by far the largest selling phone in the United States and elsewhere since its introduction[citation needed]. As of November 2008, the iPhone has surpassed the RAZR in terms of sales.[20] 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.

Android range

Towards the late 2000's, Motorola shifted its operating systems from their proprietary software to Google'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.[21] "Droid" was a major success for Motorola Mobile Devices [22] . It received the prestigious "TIME Gadget of the Year" award in 2009.[23] 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 [24]

File:2011-03-05 04-24-45.jpg
Motorola XT720 BOX

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 Atrix was released on February 22nd as the world's first phone with both a Dual-Core Processor and 1GB of RAM [25]. The phone also had optional peripherals called such as a Multimedia Dock and a Laptop Dock which launched a Webtop UI.[26]. Hot on the heels of the world's first Dual-Core phone, Motorola released the Xoom Tablet two days later on February 24th as the world's first Android 3.0 tablet,[27] and followed it up shortly afterwards with an update to make it the world's first Android 3.1 tablet[28].

The company also introduced a budget Android model called the Motorola XT531. [29]

Video Solutions

Video Infrastructure, Digital Security, Video Consumer Premise Equipment, Voice and Data Consumer Premise Equipment and more [30]

Competitors

See also

References

  1. ^ "Supercharging Android: Google to acquire Motorola". Google Blog. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  2. ^ Bradshaw, Tim (08-15-11). "Google buys Motorola mobile phone division". The Financial Times. Retrieved 15 August 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  3. ^ a b c d e f "2010 Form 10-K, Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc". United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
  4. ^ Motorola profit slides on mobile woes; shares hit 5-year low - MarketWatch
  5. ^ Q1 post-Xmas lull reverses iPhone growth curve | Register Hardware
  6. ^ "Gartner Says Worldwide Mobile Device Sales to End Users Reached 1.6 Billion Units in 2010; Smartphone Sales Grew 72 Percent in 2010: Apple and RIM Displaced Sony Ericsson and Motorola in Mobile Device Manufacturers Ranking". gartner.com. 2011-02-09.
  7. ^ "Supercharging Android: Google to acquire Motorola". Google Blog. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
  8. ^ Bradshaw, Tim (08-15-11). "Google buys Motorola mobile phone division". The Financial Times. Retrieved 15 August 2011. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  9. ^ http://www.motorola.com/Video-Solutions/US-EN/Home
  10. ^ http://mediacenter.motorola.com/Press-Releases/Motorola-Mobility-Launches-as-Independent-Company-352b.aspx
  11. ^ ,http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/faster-forward/post/google-agrees-to-acquire-motorola-mobility/2011/08/15/gIQABmTkGJ_blog.html
  12. ^ http://investor.google.com/releases/2011/0815.html
  13. ^ http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/08/15/google_ceo_anticompetitive_apple_microsoft_forced_motorola_deal.html
  14. ^ http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/08/supercharging-android-google-to-acquire.html
  15. ^ http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/11/08/15/google_ceo_anticompetitive_apple_microsoft_forced_motorola_deal.html
  16. ^ Roger Cheng (August 15, 2011). [http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-20092362-94/google-to-buy-motorola-mobility-for-$12.5b/ "Google to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5B". {{cite web}}: External link in |author= (help)CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  17. ^ a b "The smallest cell phone". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 1996-01-04. Retrieved 2006-09-10. [dead link]
  18. ^ "Motorola StarTAC Cellular Phone". Integrated Electronics Engineering Center. 1996-08. Retrieved 2006-09-10. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  19. ^ Nokia's line to the top slot
  20. ^ "Apple's iPhone: So Far, the Best Phone Ever?". PC World. 2008-11-11. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  21. ^ Verizon Tips Oct. 30 for 'Droid' Phone
  22. ^ Perez, Marin. "DROID does - but Motorola can't rest on its laurels". Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  23. ^ Grossman, Lev. "The Top 10 Everything of 2009 - Top 10 Gadgets". Time Inc. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
  24. ^ Dignan, Larry. "Motorola: Droid X Selling 'Extremely Well". Retrieved 19 May 2011.
  25. ^ Savov, Vlad. "Take a Look at the World's First Dual Core Phone". Retrieved 07 June 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  26. ^ "Atrix 4G with Laptop Dock". www.atrix4gsmartphone.com. Motorola Atrix 4G. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
  27. ^ Kamal, Kal. "Meanwhile, Motorola launches world's first Android 3.0 Honeycomb tablet XOOM in Malaysia". Retrieved 07 June 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  28. ^ Bowman, Arthur. "Android 3.1 Honeycomb Update To Verizon Motorola XOOM Users First". Retrieved 07 June 2011. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  29. ^ "Motorola Unleashed XT531™ Smartphone (Key features & specifications)". Mohith.net. Retrieved 2011-08-05.
  30. ^ http://www.motorola.com/Video-Solutions/US-EN/Products-and-Services
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