Motorola reorganizes phone unit

Motorola Inc. has reorganized its mobile phone business, aligning hardware and software teams within product categories as it prepares to make the unit into an independent company.

Spokeswoman Jennifer Erickson said the new structure was announced late Wednesday in an internal memo. Among the changes, Motorola combined two categories of phones, mid/high-tier feature phones and multimedia phones, into a single segment.

Motorola defines feature handsets as fashion-centric ones, such as the Razr. Multimedia phones are those focused on photos, music, videos and gaming. Erickson said the thinking behind combining feature and multimedia phones is that distinctions between the categories are already blurring, given the pace of change in the overall handset market.

Software teams for the feature and multimedia phones will be part of the newly combined group, working alongside their colleagues in hardware and design. Erickson said this is a key change because previously, software and hardware staffers reported to different executives. Now, the head of each phone category will have responsibility for the entire process from inception to product launch.

Motorola chief executive Greg Brown, who took direct control of the cell-phone business in February and has been spending much of his time at the unit's Libertyville headquarters, has said software is a major weak point for the company's mobile handsets.

Hardware and software teams will also be working more closely in the mass-market category of phones, which are focused on voice services and lower-priced than the more multimedia-oriented products.

Motorola said the new structure should help products get to market faster -- another area the company has struggled with in recent years.

Erickson said the impetus for the internal changes came from Brown and the company wants to make sure the mobile handset business is "well-positioned for standalone success." Brown is also searching for a chief executive for the cell-phone unit, and the changes are expected to entice potential candidates.

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