WhereIsAtlas · Technology

Motorola

The company that made the first commercial handheld cellphone — split in two on 4 January 2011, so that the name now belongs to two unrelated businesses

Transformed — Motorola, Inc. no longer exists as one company. It split on 4 January 2011 into two publicly traded businesses: Motorola Solutions, which took the enterprise and radio operations, and Motorola Mobility, which took the mobile phone and home businesses. Motorola Solutions is the legal successor of the old company and still operates, trading on the New York Stock Exchange as MSI and reporting revenue of US$11.7 billion for 2025. Motorola Mobility was bought by Google in 2012 for $12.5 billion and sold to Lenovo in 2014 for $2.91 billion; it still sells Motorola-branded Android phones, including the Razr foldable line, as a wholly owned Lenovo subsidiary. The Motorola trademarks are held by Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC, a Motorola Mobility subsidiary, and Motorola Solutions licenses them. So "Motorola" today means either a public-safety radio and software company or a Chinese-owned phone brand, depending on which one is meant.

Motorola began as Galvin Manufacturing Corporation, founded on 25 September 1928 in Chicago by the brothers Paul V. Galvin and Joseph Galvin to make a battery eliminator, a device that let battery-powered radios run on household current. Paul Galvin coined the name "Motorola" for the company's car radio, joining "motor" to the "-ola" suffix from Victrola. The first Motorola-branded radio was sold on 23 June 1930.

The company went public in 1943 and was renamed Motorola, Inc. in 1947. Radios were the business long before phones were: Motorola made the hand-held SCR-536 radio in the Second World War and the backpack SCR-300, the first radio nicknamed a "walkie talkie", of which it built nearly 50,000 units. Motorola ranked 94th among American corporations by the value of its wartime production contracts.

Consumer electronics came next, and went. Motorola created the Quasar television brand in 1967 and sold its television manufacturing business to Matsushita, the parent of Panasonic, in 1974. It also built semiconductors: its Semiconductor Products Sector became Freescale, and part of the semiconductor business was spun off in 1999 as ON Semiconductor. Those divisions mattered, but the device that made Motorola famous was smaller.

On 3 April 1973 Martin Cooper of Motorola made the first publicised handheld mobile phone call on a prototype DynaTAC. The commercial version, the DynaTAC 8000X, was unveiled in March 1983 and went on sale in 1984 at US$3,995, with a full charge taking about ten hours and giving roughly thirty minutes of talk time. The MicroTAC followed in 1989 and the StarTAC, a clamshell flip phone weighing about 88 grams, in 1996.

Then came the RAZR V3, unveiled in Chicago on 27 July 2004 and on sale that September. It was the most popular phone in the United States in 2005, 2006 and 2007, and it is described as the best-selling clamshell phone of all time. Its sales figures are reported inconsistently: 50 million units were claimed by July 2006, about 100 million were estimated by late 2007, and Wikipedia's article carries a widely cited 130 million for the line as a whole.

The success did not hold. Nokia had already overtaken Motorola as the world's biggest seller of mobile handsets in 1998, and after the RAZR the company could not keep up with Nokia, Apple and Samsung. The handset division lost $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007, and Motorola's global market share fell from 18.4 per cent in 2007 to 6.0 per cent in the first quarter of 2009. The company lost $4.3 billion across 2007 to 2009.

The split was agreed in stages. The board approved a separation in March 2008, Carl Icahn took a stake and pressed for it, and the plan slipped through the downturn before being restated in February 2010 as a spin-off of the mobile devices and home businesses as Motorola Mobility, with the remainder becoming Motorola Solutions. The split closed on 4 January 2011, structured so that Motorola, Inc. changed its name to Motorola Solutions and spun Motorola Mobility out as a new public company. At the moment of the split Motorola Mobility reported first-quarter revenue of $3 billion and sales of 9.3 million mobile devices, including 4.1 million smartphones.

Motorola Mobility's independent life was short. Google announced on 15 August 2011 that it would buy the company for $12.5 billion, or $40 a share in cash — a 63 per cent premium — with the stated intent of securing its patent portfolio to protect other Android vendors. The deal completed on 22 May 2012. Google then sold the cable modem and set-top box business, formerly General Instrument, to Arris, agreed in December 2012 at $2.35 billion. In January 2014 Google agreed to sell what remained to Lenovo for $2.91 billion, a deal that excluded most of the patents and the ATAP research unit and completed on 30 October 2014. Lenovo's own smartphone division was folded into Motorola Mobility, and Motorola-branded phones have been Lenovo products since.

Motorola Solutions went the other way, out of consumer hardware and into public safety. It sold its Enterprise business, the rugged computers and barcode scanners inherited with Symbol Technologies, to Zebra Technologies in 2014, took a $1 billion investment from Silver Lake in 2015, and bought Airwave, Avigilon, WatchGuard and Pelco. Its business now covers land mobile radio networks, command-centre software that ties together voice, video and data, video security and managed services. It reported revenue of US$11.7 billion for 2025 and employed about 23,000 people, and it still reports quarterly results as NYSE: MSI.

Two figures worth treating carefully. Motorola's peak share of the global handset market does not have a single agreed number: the BBC reported a Strategy Analytics figure of 22.1 per cent in the second quarter of 2006, with 51.9 million phones sold, while Wikipedia records 18.4 per cent for 2007 falling to 6.0 per cent in the first quarter of 2009. Both are correct for their dates, and neither is "the peak". RAZR sales are reported the same way, with 110 million given in the 2008–2011 official figures and 130 million widely repeated since.

What still trades under the name. Motorola Solutions, Inc. is the legal successor of Motorola, Inc., and sells radio systems, video security and public-safety software under a licence from Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC. Motorola Mobility LLC, a Lenovo company, sells consumer phones, including the Razr foldables and the Moto G range, and is the entity behind the trademark family. Motorola Mobility has also licensed the brand for products it does not make: accessory rights went to Binatone in 2015 and home networking rights to Zoom Telephonics in 2016. Whether those licences are still in force could not be verified.

Timeline

  1. 1928 — Galvin Manufacturing is founded: Paul V. Galvin and his brother Joseph start the company in Chicago to make a battery eliminator for battery-powered radios. (Chicago)
  2. 1930 — The first Motorola radio: The first radio to carry the Motorola name is sold in June; the company begins selling car radios to police departments later the same year. (Chicago)
  3. 1947 — The name becomes Motorola: Galvin Manufacturing, public since 1943, is renamed Motorola, Inc.; its main business is televisions and radios. (Chicago)
  4. 1974 — Out of televisions: Motorola sells its television manufacturing business, including the Quasar brand, to Matsushita for about $108 million.
  5. 1984 — The DynaTAC 8000X goes on sale: The first commercial handheld cellphone reaches the market at US$3,995, with about thirty minutes of talk time per charge.
  6. 1996 — The StarTAC: Motorola's clamshell flip phone launches at $1,000 and about 88 grams, the smallest and lightest phone to that point.
  7. 1998 — Nokia takes the lead: Nokia overtakes Motorola as the world's biggest seller of mobile phone handsets.
  8. 2004 — The RAZR V3: Unveiled in Chicago in July and on sale from September, the thin clamshell becomes the best-selling flip phone of all time.
  9. Q2 2006 — The last strong quarter: Motorola holds 22.1% of the global mobile phone market against Nokia's 33.3%, selling 51.9 million phones.
  10. Q1 2009 — The collapse: Global handset share has fallen to 6.0% from 18.4% in 2007; the handset division lost $1.2 billion in the fourth quarter of 2007.
  11. 4 Jan 2011 — The split: Motorola, Inc. renames itself Motorola Solutions and spins off Motorola Mobility as a separate public company.
  12. 15 Aug 2011 — Google agrees to buy the phone business: Google announces a $12.5 billion deal for Motorola Mobility, framed around its patent portfolio; it completes on 22 May 2012.
  13. 19 Dec 2012 — The Home business goes to Arris: Arris agrees to buy Motorola Mobility's cable modem and set-top box business for $2.35 billion; the sale completes in April 2013.
  14. 29 Jan 2014 — Lenovo: Google agrees to sell Motorola Mobility to Lenovo for $2.91 billion; the sale completes on 30 October 2014.
  15. 2026 — Two companies, one name: Motorola Solutions reports quarterly results as NYSE: MSI, while Motorola Mobility, a Lenovo subsidiary, sells the Razr 70 and Razr Fold lines. (Chicago)

Quick facts

Founded
25 September 1928, as Galvin Manufacturing Corporation in Chicago
Founders
Paul V. Galvin and Joseph Galvin
Renamed
Motorola, Inc. in 1947
First product
a battery eliminator for battery-powered radios
Name origin
"motor" plus the "-ola" of Victrola
First commercial handheld phone
DynaTAC 8000X, on sale 1984 at US$3,995
First publicised handheld call
Martin Cooper, 3 April 1973
Best-known phone
the RAZR V3, unveiled 27 July 2004
RAZR V3 sales
50 million claimed by July 2006; about 100 million estimated by late 2007; 130 million widely cited for the line
Handset market share
22.1% in Q2 2006 per Strategy Analytics; 18.4% in 2007 falling to 6.0% in Q1 2009
Split
4 January 2011, into Motorola Solutions and Motorola Mobility
Legal successor
Motorola Solutions, Inc. — formerly Motorola, Inc.
Phone business
sold to Google in 2012 for $12.5 billion, then to Lenovo in 2014 for $2.91 billion
Motorola Solutions ticker
NYSE: MSI
Motorola Solutions revenue, 2025
US$11.7 billion
Trademarks
held by Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC, a Motorola Mobility subsidiary
Brand licences
accessories to Binatone in 2015, home networking to Zoom Telephonics in 2016

Lineage — where the name went

One Chicago radio company, the phone that made it famous, and the 2011 split that left two unrelated businesses sharing the name — a public-safety equipment maker and a Lenovo-owned phone brand.

  1. 1928 — Paul V. Galvin founded Motorola, Inc. (founded as Galvin Manufacturing, renamed Motorola in 1947)
  2. 1940 — Motorola, Inc. created SCR-536 Handie-Talkie (the wartime handheld radio)
  3. 1967 — Motorola, Inc. created Quasar (the television brand)
  4. 1974 — Motorola, Inc. sold Quasar (the television business went to Matsushita)
  5. 1973 — Motorola, Inc. created DynaTAC (the prototype behind the first commercial handheld phone)
  6. 1996 — Motorola, Inc. created StarTAC (the clamshell that made small phones fashionable)
  7. 2004 — Motorola, Inc. created RAZR V3 (the phone that carried the company and then sank it)
  8. 2011 — Motorola, Inc. spun off Motorola Mobility (the consumer business, including phones)
  9. 2011 — Motorola, Inc. rebranded as Motorola Solutions (the remainder took the Motorola Solutions name)
  10. 2012 — Google acquired Motorola Mobility ($12.5 billion, completed in May 2012)
  11. 2012 — Arris acquired Motorola Mobility (the cable modem and set-top box business, at $2.35 billion)
  12. 2014 — Lenovo acquired Motorola Mobility ($2.91 billion, completed on 30 October 2014)
  13. 2011 — Motorola Mobility created Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC (the company that holds and licenses the Motorola marks)

Entities in this tree: Paul V. Galvin (person, 1895); Motorola, Inc. (company, 1928); SCR-536 Handie-Talkie (product, 1940); Quasar (brand, 1967); DynaTAC (product, 1973); StarTAC (product); RAZR V3 (product, 2004); Motorola Solutions (company, 2011); Motorola Mobility (company, 2011); Google (company, 2012); Arris (company, 2012); Lenovo (company, 2014); Motorola Trademark Holdings, LLC (company)

Sources

  1. Motorola — Wikipedia (2026-09-20)
  2. Motorola Mobility — Wikipedia (2026-09-20)
  3. Motorola Solutions — Wikipedia (2026-09-20)
  4. Motorola DynaTAC — Wikipedia (2026-09-20)
  5. Motorola Razr V3 — Wikipedia (2026-09-20)
  6. Motorola Razr — Wikipedia (2026-09-20)
  7. Motorola Solutions Completes Separation, Begins Trading as MSI on NYSE — Motorola Solutions (2026-09-20)
  8. Motorola Solutions Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Financial Results — Motorola Solutions (2026-09-20)
  9. Cell Phone Development — Motorola Solutions (2026-09-20)
  10. Google to Buy Motorola Mobility for $12.5 Billion — The New York Times DealBook (2026-09-20)
  11. Motorola Agrees to Seat 2 Icahn Board Nominees — The New York Times DealBook (2026-09-20)
  12. Motorola sales close in on Nokia — BBC News (2026-09-20)

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