Motorola split comes into action

Motorola

Motorola has begun trading under two separate companies.

The first, set to focus on its consumer products such as mobile phones and set top boxes, will go under the name of Motorola Mobility and trade on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) as MMI.

The second will keep its attentions on the enterprise areas of the business, for both public and private sector organisations, and will be called Motorola Solutions. This will also trade on the NYSE but as MSI.

The split was first approved by Motorola's board of directors back at the end of November, with the company agreeing to stop trading as a single entity at the close of business on 21 December.

Motorola Mobility will be lead by the previous co-chief executive (co-CEO) of Motorola, Sanjay Jha.

"We are pleased that Motorola Mobility has reached this important milestone," Jha said.

"We are well-positioned to build on the strong momentum we have in smartphones and end-to-end video solutions and to take advantage of opportunities resulting from the convergence of media, mobility, computing and the Internet."

Jha added: "With more than 20,000 employees globally, 24,500 patents granted and pending, and a highly recognisable brand, we are able to deliver cutting-edge devices with differentiated software experiences. In addition, we will continue to work aggressively to capitalise on the next generation of converged devices and experiences to provide consumers with more intuitive and personalised services."

Jha's opposite co-CEO, Greg Brown, will take on the top job at Motorola Solutions.

"With a purpose-driven brand and a strong balance sheet, we are very well positioned for the future," Brown. "Motorola Solutions has an outstanding platform to build from and I believe our opportunities for growth will benefit customers, shareholders and employees."

Jennifer Scott

Jennifer Scott is a former freelance journalist and currently political reporter for Sky News. She has a varied writing history, having started her career at Dennis Publishing, working in various roles across its business technology titles, including ITPro. Jennifer has specialised in a number of areas over the years and has produced a wealth of content for ITPro, focusing largely on data storage, networking, cloud computing, and telecommunications.

Most recently Jennifer has turned her skills to the political sphere and broadcast journalism, where she has worked for the BBC as a political reporter, before moving to Sky News.