Motorola Mobility
 | |
| Company type | Public |
|---|---|
| NYSE: MMI | |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Predecessor | Motorola, Inc. |
| Founded | January 4, 2011 |
| Fate | Acquisition pending by Google |
| Headquarters | Libertyville, Illinois, U.S. |
Key people | Sanjay Jha (Chairman and CEO) |
| Products | Mobile phones |
| Revenue |  US$ 11.460 billion (2010)[1] |
| US$ 76 million (2010)[1] | |
| US$ -79 million (2010)[1] | |
| Total assets | US$ 6.204 billion (2010)[1] |
| Total equity |  US$ 1.755 billion (2010)[1] |
| Owner | Motorola, Inc. (1928-2011) Independent (2011-Present) |
Number of employees | 19,000 (2010)[1] |
| Website | Motorola.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.[2] 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%.[3] In 2010, Motorola's global market share had dropped to seventh place.[4]
On August 15, 2011, Google announced that it had agreed to acquire the company[5] for US$12.5 billion.[6]
History
Motorola Mobility was previously known as the Mobile Devices division of Motorola until it was spun-off as a separate entity in January of 2011. Motorola Mobility is comprised of the Mobile Devices business which produces smartphones and the Home business which produces set-top boxes and end-to-end video solutions.[7]
Nokia Takes 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,[8] 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.
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
In 2004, Motorola released the RAZR V3. As of November 2008, the iPhone has surpassed the RAZR in terms of sales.[9] 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
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.[10] "Droid" was a major success for Motorola Mobile Devices.[11] It received the prestigious "TIME Gadget of the Year" award in 2009.[12] 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.[13]
Spinoff
The division began trading as a separate independent company on January 4, 2011.[14]
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 Atrix was released on February 22nd as the world's first phone with both a Dual-Core Processor and 1GB of RAM.[15] The phone also had optional peripherals such as a Multimedia Dock and a Laptop Dock which launched a Webtop UI.[16] Soon after the Atrix release, Motorola released the Xoom Tablet two days later on February 24th as the world's first Android 3.0 tablet,[17] and followed it up shortly afterwards with an update to make it the world's first Android 3.1 tablet.[18]
The company also introduced a budget Android model called the Motorola XT531.[19]
Proposed acquisition by Google
On August 15, 2011, Google announced that it would acquire Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion[20][21][22] 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.[23]
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,[5] mainly , Microsoft, Oracle and Apple[24] and to allow it to continue to freely offer its Android OS.[25]
As a reverse breakup fee (the amount Google would have to pay Motorola Mobility if the deal breaks under certain circumstances), Google agreed to pay an amount of $12.5 billion (more than 3 times of the recent AT&T/T-Mobile deal).[26]
Competitors
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f "2010 Form 10-K, Motorola Mobility Holdings, Inc". United States Securities and Exchange Commission.
- ^ Motorola profit slides on mobile woes; shares hit 5-year low - MarketWatch
- ^ Q1 post-Xmas lull reverses iPhone growth curve | Register Hardware
- ^ "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.
- ^ a b "Supercharging Android: Google to acquire Motorola". Google Blog. Retrieved 15 August 2011.
- ^ 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) - ^ http://mediacenter.motorola.com/Press-Releases/Motorola-Mobility-Launches-as-Independent-Company-352b.aspx
- ^ Nokia's line to the top slot
- ^ "Apple's iPhone: So Far, the Best Phone Ever?". PC World. 2008-11-11. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
- ^ Verizon Tips Oct. 30 for 'Droid' Phone
- ^ Perez, Marin. "DROID does - but Motorola can't rest on its laurels". Retrieved 19 May 2011.
- ^ Grossman, Lev. "The Top 10 Everything of 2009 - Top 10 Gadgets". Time Inc. Retrieved 20 January 2011.
- ^ Dignan, Larry. "Motorola: Droid X Selling 'Extremely Well". Retrieved 19 May 2011.
- ^ http://mediacenter.motorola.com/Press-Releases/Motorola-Mobility-Launches-as-Independent-Company-352b.aspx
- ^ 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) - ^ "Atrix 4G with Laptop Dock". www.atrix4gsmartphone.com. Motorola Atrix 4G. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
- ^ 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) - ^ 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) - ^ "Motorola Unleashed XT531™ Smartphone (Key features & specifications)". Mohith.net. Retrieved 2011-08-05.
- ^ Tsukayama, Hayley (August 15, 2011). "Google agrees to acquire Motorola Mobility". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
- ^ "Google to Acquire Motorola Mobility". Google Inc. Investor Relations. August 15, 2011. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
- ^ http://www.mohith.net/2011/08/google-to-acquire-motorola-mobility.html
- ^ "Google CEO: 'Anticompetitive' Apple, Microsoft forced Motorola deal". Apple Insider. August 15, 2011. Retrieved August 15, 2011.
- ^ "« When patents attack Android » =August 3, 2011". Retrieved August 3, 2011.
{{cite web}}: no-break space character in|title=at position 2 (help) - ^ Roger Cheng (August 15, 2011). "Google to buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5B". Retrieved August 15, 2011.
{{cite web}}: External link in|author= - ^ Saitto, Serena; Mider, Zachary (August 16, 2011). "Google-Motorola Deal Is Said to Include $2.5 Billion Reverse Breakup Fee". Bloomberg. Retrieved August 16, 2011.