“We don’t want to be a one product company, but a company of many products. The change needed at Motorola in the area of cellular devices will come from discipline in performance and consistency in the results seen, but it is the people managing the company who will be responsible for the change. From this aspect, we’ve made a great change,” new Motorola president and COO Greg Brown told “Globes” in an exclusive interview. Brown is touted as the candidate with the greatest chance of becoming the company’s next CEO.
Brown was referring to the crisis at Motorola (NYSE:MOT) caused by its inability to replicate the great success of its RAZR V3 handset, which has become an icon. In the past two quarters, the company’s global market share for handsets fell to 12%, dragging down the share price in tandem. The result was a change in management, with the ouster of several top executives, and the promotion of Brown.
Brown says, “Our present investment in Israel will remain, and there are opportunities for development through in-house R&D. There are also very real opportunities for Motorola’s development in Israel via acquisitions of start-ups and investment in them. We’ve done this before, and there’s no reason not to continue.”
Brown added, “The guys in Israel are some of the best at the company. They’re consistent leaders. Take for example the acquisition of Symbol Technologies (a developer of business applications - G.H.) and the decision to quickly integrate it with the company’s activity. They’ve created synergy through teamwork.”
Motorola’s activity in Israel includes Motorola Israel Ltd., run by general manager Elisha Yanay, which posts $1.2 billion revenue a year. Motorola Israel focuses on R&D for communications equipment for enterprises and security agencies. Motorola subsidiary MIRS Communications Ltd. is Israel’s fourth largest cellular operator, which focuses on the enterprise market. Motorola has also invested $22 million in nine start-ups, and Brown promises that there could be more to come.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on October 9, 2007
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