Company Background

Motorola, Inc. is a Fortune 100 global communications leader that provides seamless mobility products and solutions across broadband, embedded systems and wireless networks.

Motorola was founded in 1928 by Paul and Joseph Galvin under the name
Galvin Manufacturing Corporation. The company started out by producing battery eliminators that allowed battery operated radios to run on household current. The first Motorola brand car radio was launched in the 1930aꏡ?s. In 1947 the company changed its name and became Motorola,
Inc. The company expanded in the 1950aꏡ?s and 1960aꏡ?s and became semiconductor producers for other manufacturers. Motorola also became a global company in the 1960aꏡ?s. In the 1970aꏡ?s Motorola introduced the companyaꏡ?s first microprocessor and a prototype for the worldaꏡ?s first commercial portable phone. In the 1980aꏡ?s and 1990aꏡ?s Motorola provided the worldaꏡ?s first computerized engine control, invented the
Six Sigma quality improvement process, launched the MicroTac which was then the smallest and lightest cellular phone on the market. In the 21st century Motorola has provided the worldaꏡ?s first GPRS cellular system, the worldaꏡ?s first wireless cables modem gateway, and the MOTORAZR V3 cellular phone. Motorola continues to pursue mergers, acquisitions and alliances in an effort to grow and continue to be profitable and be a global leader in the industry.

Some of the major mobile devices products for Motorola are mobile phones, accessories, Bluetooth devices, IDEN technology, portable energy systems and two-way radios. Major products for Motorolaaꏡ?s government and enterprise mobility solutions are biometrics, integrated information management, computer-aided dispatch systems and records management systems. Other major products are Motorolaaꏡ?s networks and home networking solutions.

Motorola has three business units which are mobile devices, network and enterprise, and connected home solutions. During the fiscal year 2006, mobile devices generated 66.1% of Motorolaaꏡ?s total revenues, followed by network and enterprise generating 26.2% of the total revenues, and connected home solutions generating 7.7% of total revenues. Motorolaaꏡ?s revenues for the 2006 fiscal year were $42,879 million. The U.S. which is the companyaꏡ?s largest market accounted fro 43.9% of the total revenues. Forces and Trends

Trend: WiMax aꏡá‚" Nellie Stewart

Description of trend:

In the industry environment, Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave
Access (WiMax) is very important to Motorola. WiMax is an Institute of
Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) standard designated
802.16e-2005 (mobile wire-less). With WiMax cell phones will no longer be tied to cellular networks.

WiMax has the potential to replace a number of existing telecommunications infrastructures (WiMax, 2007). WiMax has the potential of replacing cellular networks, copper wire networks used by telephone companies, and the coaxial cable infrastructure use by cable
TV while offering Internet Service Provider (ISP) services.

Relevance of trend:

Broadband wireless access (BWA) and in particular WiMax is being implemented worldwide. The relevance of WiMax to Motorola is that the companyaꏡ?s leading competitors, mainly Cisco Systems and Nokia in the communications equipment business is working to provide WiMax technology to a mobile society. Mobile phones with WiMax technology is slated to start showing up for consumers to purchase in 2008. The introduction of
WiMax for cellular phones could also potentially impact Motorolaaꏡ?s performance in the cell phone business. It is also a sound strategy for
Motorola to be aware of what their competitors are doing. This trend is also relevant to Motorola because WiMax will reduce the need for wireline equipment, especially in homes. Wireline equipment is primarily used for Internet access and e-mail.

Motorolaaꏡ?s strategic adaptability:

Motorola has made some progress with WiMax technology. Motorola has had many first in the industry and will adapt seamlessly to the trends seen with WiMax. Motorola is a provider of the WiMax chips and can make alliances with other providers to integrate WiMax into more cell phones offered by companies like Sprint/Nextel.

According to the Datamonitor, aꏡosuccessful players will continue to invest in research, and maintain a diverse technology portfolio, in order to maintain revenues in the face of changing end-user requirements
(Datamonitor, 2007).

Force: Barriers of entry to new competitors (WiMax) ტႀá‚" Nellie Stewart

Description of force:

In the industry environment, one of the recognized forces is the threat of new entry. Although there are many rivals in the industry environment, they are not the only ones that pose a threat to firms in the industry. The possibility that new firms may enter into the industry has a huge effect on competition. The entry and exit of new firms are shaped by characteristics that help define whether or not this threat is strong. aꏡoIn theory, any firm should be able to enter and exit a market, and if free entry and exit