Moto CEO: head-hunting exec for device business: No new details on possible spin-off

Motorola Inc. is on the lookout for an executive to lead its troubled handset division to the promised land, according to CEO Greg Brown, who said yesterday he is currently spending 80% of his time on resurrecting the unit.
Brown made his remarks to an audience at the Morgan Stanley Technology Conference in Dana Point, Calif. Dubbed a “fireside chat,” the event was one of Brown’s first major forums for discussing Motorola’s future since he assumed the CEO role Jan. 1.
Motorola is looking for someone outside the firm with broad consumer electronics experience, among other things, to guide a “product-led recovery,” Brown said. The CEO said he was personally involved in the search for a new handset executive. The company just hired Paul Liska as its new CFO; Liska comes with private-equity background.
Motorola needs to broaden its handset portfolio, especially in 3G and smartphones; it needs key people to lead product development and portfolio expansion; and it needs clarity around its software strategy, Brown said. Progress in these areas could produce “a renewed sense of optimism” for the Schaumburg, Ill.-based company.
Brown did not directly answer a question on the future importance of the company’s network equipment business, nor did he offer any new information on the possible spin-off of mobile devices. Speculation in the media has focused on the possibility that Moto’s network business may be spun off to form a joint venture with Nortel Networks and that Chinese or Japanese vendors might be interested in the handset division.
Asked how Motorola planned to fend off Nokia Corp.’s renewed interest in the United States market, Brown suggested that Motorola must “leverage its incumbency” in its domestic market, which would continue to be “rugged” into next year.
Meanwhile, Motorola’s own internal capital expenditures will be flat this year over the prior year — a measure of cautious company-wide and handset-related investment.
Brown said that three conditions prevailed in late January when he announced that Motorola would seek “structural and strategic realignments” in its handset business — widely viewed as an attempt to solicit parties interested in joining in the running or funding of its ailing mobile devices business. First, the announcement was a way to acknowledge “a dislocation of values,” the CEO said. Second, it was “an open way to stimulate partnerships.” Third, it served to “accelerate our commitment to the recovery,” including attracting new talent.
The Motorola CEO said, in answer to a question, that the company’s losses doubled in the first quarter due to slowing demand for its products as well as delays in new product launches. In response to another question, Brown said the handset market would remain attractive and capable of sustaining double-digit margins over the next several years.
“The problems are ours,” Brown said.