Motorola
The Motorola 'batwings' logo used from 1955 to 2011 (still used by successor businesses) | |
Final headquarters in Schaumburg, Illinois (pictured occupied by Motorola Solutions) | |
| Formerly | Galvin Manufacturing Corporation (1928–1947) |
|---|---|
| Company type | Public |
| NYSE: MOT | |
| Industry | Telecommunications |
| Founded | September 25, 1928 in Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Founders |
|
| Defunct | January 4, 2011 |
| Fate | Split into Motorola Mobility and Motorola Solutions |
| Successors | Motorola Mobility Motorola Solutions Freescale Semiconductor ON Semiconductor Arris Group (General Instrument) Cambium Networks NXP Semiconductors |
| Headquarters | Schaumburg, Illinois, U.S. |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Tablet computers Cordless telephones 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] |
| Parent | |
| Divisions | Mobile Devices Home & Networks Mobility Enterprise Mobility Solutions |
| Website | www.motorola.com (archived December 31, 2010) |
Motorola, Inc. (/ˌmoʊtəˈroʊlə/[2]) was an American multinational telecommunications company based in Schaumburg, Illinois. It was founded by brothers Paul and Joseph Galvin in 1928[3] and had been named Motorola since 1947.[4] Many of Motorola's products had been radio-related communication equipment such as two-way radios, consumer walkie-talkies, cellular infrastructure, mobile phones, satellite communicators, pagers, as well as cable modems and semiconductors.[5] After having lost $4.3 billion from 2007 to 2009, Motorola was split into two independent public companies: Motorola Solutions (its legal successor) and Motorola Mobility (spun off), on January 4, 2011.[6][7]
Motorola designed and sold wireless network equipment such as cellular transmission base stations and signal amplifiers. 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. 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. These businesses, except for set-top boxes and cable modems, became part of Motorola Solutions after the split of Motorola in 2011.
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, as the company's one-hit wonders were not enough to reinstate Motorola as a leader.[8][9] Later it focused on smartphones using Google's Android mobile operating system, the first released product being Motorola Droid in 2009.[10][11] The handset division was later spun off into Motorola Mobility.
- ^ "2009 Annual Report, Motorola Inc" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on May 16, 2021. Retrieved April 6, 2021.
- ^ Jones, Daniel (2003) [1917], Peter Roach, James Hartmann and Jane Setter (ed.), English Pronouncing Dictionary, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 3-12-539683-2
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
:2was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Cite error: The named reference
:3was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "At Motorola, a history of embracing, then rejecting, consumer spotlight". ZDNET. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Motorola Solutions Inc: NYSE:MSI quotes & news – Google Finance". Archived from the original on September 3, 2011. Retrieved July 12, 2011.
- ^ "Motorola vows no more `one-hit wonders\' - Taipei Times". www.taipeitimes.com. September 9, 2007. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
- ^ Ojo, Bolaji (December 3, 2007). "Motorola's new CEO faces long odds". EE Times. Retrieved May 19, 2025.
- ^ Murph, Darren (October 28, 2009). "Motorola DROID official on Verizon: $199 on contract, coming November 6th (video)". Engadget. Retrieved March 27, 2023.
- ^ Jones, Mustafa (November 2, 2009). "Motorola Droid "Milestone" Gets European Specs, Adds MultiTouch". The Inquisitr. Retrieved March 27, 2023.