Motorola is to spin-off its struggling mobile phone business as it starts the process of separating its Mobile Devices and Broadband& Mobility businesses into two independent, publicly-traded companies.
The move has been expected following Motorola's announcement in January that it was reviewing its mobile business structure. It marks the biuggest change at Motoroal since it spun off its semiconductor business into Freescale in 2004.
Greg Brown, Motorola’s president and CEO insisted that “priorities have not changed with today’s announcement. We remain committed to improving the performance of our Mobile Devices business."
Motorola, which was the long time leader in the mobile phone industry, is now ranked as the world's third largest mobile phone maker behind Nokia and Samsung in terms of market share and shipments.
Brown also said he has started the search for a new chief executive officer for the Mobile Devices business.
Motorola expects that the separation of its businesses will take place in 2009.