Motorola Mitosis: Mobile Giant to Split

by Jordan Yerman | March 26, 2008 at 05:40 am

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As Motorola continues to hemorrhage profits, the mobile giant is splitting into two public companies in order to stop the bleed whilst retaining share prices. (One could also suggest getting away from the Razr design, which hasn't visibly changed in years)

Motorola Inc. plans to split into
two companies next year amid pressure from billionaire investor
Carl Icahn to break off the money-losing mobile-phone business
that it pioneered 25 years ago.

One company will focus on handsets and the other will sell
network equipment, cable TV set-top boxes and two-way radios --
businesses that are profitable and growing faster. The board is
looking for a new leader for the phone business, Motorola said in
a statement today.

The decision buys Chief Executive Officer Greg Brown time to
revitalize the handset unit and fetch a better value. Icahn had
demanded the company offload the division. Brown was looking for
a buyer after sales slid for four straight quarters as consumers
snapped up phones from Apple Inc. and Nokia Oyj.