Motorola

This article is about the original company prior to its split in 2011. For the present-day companies of this name, see Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions. For other uses, see Motorola (disambiguation).

Motorola, Inc.
FormerlyGalvin Manufacturing Corporation (1928–1947)
Company typePublic
NYSE: MOT
IndustryTelecommunications
FoundedSeptember 25, 1928; 96 years ago (1928-09-25)
Founders
DefunctJanuary 4, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-01-04)
FateSplit into Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions
SuccessorsMotorola Mobility
Motorola Solutions
Freescale Semiconductor
ON Semiconductor
Arris Group (General Instrument)
Cambium Networks
NXP Semiconductors
HeadquartersSchaumburg, Illinois, U.S.
Area served
Worldwide
ProductsTablet computers
Mobile phones
Smartphones
Two-way radios
Networking systems
Cable television systems
Wireless broadband networks
RFID systems
Mobile telephone infrastructure
Number of employees
53,000 (2010)[1]
DivisionsMobile Devices
Home & Networks Mobility
Enterprise Mobility Solutions
Websitewww.motorola.com (archived December 31, 2010)

Motorola, Inc. (/ˌmoʊtəˈroʊlə/[2]) was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded in 1928 as Galvin Manufacturing Corporation by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin.[3] The company changed its name to Motorola in 1947.[4] After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, Motorola was split into two independent public companies, Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions, on January 4, 2011.[5] The reorganization was structured with Motorola Solutions legally succeeding Motorola, Inc., and Motorola Mobility being spun off.[6]

Motorola designed and sold wireless network 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, became part of Motorola Solutions.

Motorola's wireless telephone handset division was a pioneer in cellular telephones. Also known as the Personal Communication Sector (PCS) prior to 2004, it pioneered the "mobile phone" with the first truly mobile "brick phone" DynaTAC, "flip phone" with the MicroTAC as well as the "clam phone" with the StarTAC in the mid-1990s. It had staged a resurgence by the mid-2000s with the RAZR, but lost market share in the second half of that decade. Later it focused on smartphones using Google's open-source Android mobile operating system. The first phone to use Android 2.0 "Eclair", the Motorola Droid, was released in 2009 (the GSM version launched a month later, in Europe, as the Motorola Milestone).[7][8] The handset division, along with the cable set-top box and modem businesses, were later spun off into Motorola Mobility.

  1. ^ "2009 Annual Report, Motorola Inc" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
  2. ^ Jones, Daniel (2003) [1917], Peter Roach, James Hartmann and Jane Setter (ed.), English Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 3-12-539683-2
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference :3 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Ante, Spencer E. (January 5, 2011). "Motorola Is Split Into Two". The Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on January 6, 2011. Retrieved January 4, 2011.
  6. ^ "Motorola Solutions Inc: NYSE:MSI quotes & news – Google Finance". Archived from the original on September 3, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
  7. ^ Murph, Darren (October 28, 2009). "Motorola DROID official on Verizon: $199 on contract, coming November 6th (video)". Engadget. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
  8. ^ Jones, Mustafa (November 2, 2009). "Motorola Droid "Milestone" Gets European Specs, Adds MultiTouch". The Inquisitr. Retrieved March 27, 2023.