Motorola Corp. (NYSE: MOT) Chief Executive Ed Zander is stepping down as of January 1, according to CNBC's David Faber. He is being replaced by president and chief operating officer Greg Brown.

Zander, who was brought to the company to replace the mess created by his predecessor Chris Galvin, will remain as chairman. Shares of Motorola are down about 29% over the past year. They are trading up in pre-market trading.

The move isn't surprising since Zander was on thin ice with investors for a long time, including billionaire activist Carl Icahn.

"Until recently, much of the blame for the ailing mobile-phone business was laid at the feet of Motorola's former cell phone czar, Ron Garriques, who was criticized for chasing market share at the expense of profitability," BusinessWeek wrote in July. "But in the absence of Garriques, who bolted for Dell (DELL) in February, the buck stops with Zander, investors say."