Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) just can't seem to find a sliver of good news to hang on to these days. The cellphone manufacturer based outside of Chicago saw its shares hit a five-year low this week as the outlook for its cellphone division continues to worsen. The company is in the midst of preparing to spin off the division to rid itself of that baggage. It's a sad state when that "baggage" is what defines Motorola.

Motorola contract manufacturer FoxConn had some cautious words to say this week as well, which probably helped propel Motorola's shares downward to $7.61, a level not seen since May 2003. After losing $194 million in the first quarter alone, it's just bewildering to see how such a great company completely lost its way, financially speaking.

It's not getting any better. The company's product launches have been described as a "half-baked mess" and it can't seem to find a knack for the cellphone handset design that it made so famous years ago with the RAZR. Motorola certainly isn't a one-hit wonder, but in the brutal cellphone market you need a hit every year to stay at the top of your game. Korean giant Samsung Electronics passed Motorola by in 2007 to become the world's second-largest cellphone manufacturer by having a whole host of cellphone designs available to almost every wireless carrier in the world. That's just for starters, but for Motorola, it seems to be an impossible goal at the moment.

Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) seems to be in the midst of a crisis, even as it prepares to split itself into two companies to give shareholders more visibility into just how bad one part of its business can be while the other piece can be, well, not so bad. Of course, I'm talking about the wireless giant's cellphone division, which is still in the top three worldwide in terms of sales. It's sinking faster than a rock, though. How did this come to pass?

After reading a missive by a former Motorola employee, Numair Faraz, who worked closely with the late Geoffrey Frost -- Motorola's former Chief Marketing Officer and father of the RAZR handset -- one has to wonder about a few things. For example, just what kind of incompetence has brewed in the corner office for the last three years? From reading Faraz's words, both former CEO Ed Zander is pitched as a complete idiot and slave driver who literally worked Frost to death and current CEO Greg Brown is pitched as a technological moron who can't even use email (his secretary prints off messages to read to him later). Are these truths? They sure could be.

Zander, who was highly regarded when he came back in 2004 to take over for CEO (and grandson of company founder) Chris Galvin, seemed to have everything going for him. Looking back, nothing ever went right for Zander. The RAZR that gave Motorola its two-year recognition was in the works before he arrived. What did Zander -- a former president of Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVA) -- do during his tenure with Motorola?

Swipe big chunks of compensation while churning out middling performance, according to many on Wall Street and Faraz as well. Maybe Galvin was not such a bad CEO after all, right? When Faraz said in 2003 that "Motorola's biggest problem is that Samsung kicks ass," he wasn't kidding -- and that's precisely what happened. Seems to be another example of very sub-par performance being rewarded with a golden parachute, while shareholders get shafted once again. Motorola stood at under $10 a share early today.

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) CEO Greg Brown just can't make up his mind on trying to find a leader for the telecom company's troubled wireless handset division. First, he anointed himself as leader of that division, which needs a swift kick in the pants to return to profitability and deliver some knockout cellphones customers will lust after. Maybe he bit off more than he could chew.

At least Brown says that the company is "committed" to the handset division, after rumors of a company breakup swirled heavily in the air. Well, that may be true, as Brown is reportedly looking for a new executive to run the handset division. In fact, he stated that 80% of his time these days is being spent looking for that person as he aired in a few conversations at a recent Morgan Stanly Technology Conference.

Motorola's Brown said that he's looking outside the company as well for the new executive to lead the handset division of Motorola -- someone who will be tasked with leading the most public face of the company "on a
product-led recovery." That's an understatement -- this executive will need design and marketing finesse in addition to strong logistics and P&L experience at the very least to get some kick back into Motorola's cellphone existence while making a consistent profit. That's a tall order considering the state Motorola's handset division is in at the moment.

After Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT) said it was considering options to spin off or sell its money-losing wireless handset division a few weeks ago, the company's new CEO, Greg Brown, said that the company is "fully committed" to the mobile device business. Okay -- which is it? Brown went on: "Motorola is fully committed to the mobile devices business and I am fully committed to mobile devices." Fully committed to keeping it in-house or selling it off? One has to wonder.

Motorola's brand in the cellphone business is a very good one, although that division's profit troubles and sales numbers have been really horrid in the last 12 months. Still, unless the company could easily be worth more to shareholders if split up (i.e., Carl Icahn), then refocusing efforts in its handset division should be a top priority. Motorola was once on top of the world with the RAZR. There is no reason it can't be there again.

It's hard to believe that Motorola's brand recognition in the ultra-competitive handset business is tarnished. It's just the sales and profit that's lacking. So, within the fast pace that the handset business works in, Brown's test will be to fix those problems and get Motorola's nameplate again at the top of the sales charts. The market may give him all of 2008 to do so, but many investors, unfortunately, want instant gratification after former CEO Ed Zander's results.

Just a few weeks after Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) released disastrous fourth quarter results, the telecom company's new CEO Greg Brown has taken direct control of the company's wireless handset division. Apparently, Brown is not ready to cede defeat to Samsung Electronics, which wrestled the "world's second largest" wireless phone maker spot away from Motorola in 2007.

Even as Brown apparently rolls up his sleeves and tries to fix what's wrong with the wireless giant's handset division, the company is still being rumored for a breakup to unlock shareholder value. With Motorola shares sitting at under $12, the pressure will be on for that to happen sooner than later. With Carl Icahn still yelling for Motorola blood, 2008 will be an interesting year for the Illinois wireless behemoth.

Brown will replace Stu Reed, who took operating responsibility over Motorola's wireless handset division last July. Reed will remain with Motorola, but the company was not clear on his responsibilities. With Motorola's handset division producing half of the company's revenue, Brown will now have the job of trying to either get it back to prominence in the global handset market or prime it for a sale should a breakup of the company happen.

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), the company that defined two-way radio communications decades ago and helped invent the cellular telephone business in the 1980s, may be looking to shed itself of its handset division. After one of the best wireless handset success stories ever with the 50 million-strong RAZR, the company has been mired in sagging sales, market share losses and monetary losses all at the same time. Even the company's former CEO didn't escape, as Ed Zander left his CEO spot less than a month ago under severe fire from the investment community.

Motorola's shares have plunged based on its horrible financial results, today standing at just over $11.30 per share, giving the company a market cap of just over $25 billion. The company's current malaise is largely due to the complete ineptness of its handset division, which for some reason fell off the wagon completely after the RAZR became the wireless handset darling of this decade. Motorola has seen suggestions of a breakup to unlock shareholder value, something longtime investor activist Carl Icahn has advocated.

Will Motorola dump its handset division and concentrate on becoming an enterprise equipment company instead of a consumer one? Analyst Richard Windsor speculated this week that the world's second-largest handset maker may indeed sell its wireless handset division. If a sale is made, the buyer will have a plethora of problems to fix; problems that, for some reason, are being evaded at Motorola's largest competitors in the space. Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK),for example, seems to be doing quite well.

As Brian White discussed in his earnings preview, analysts had been expecting to see another disastrous quarter for Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) and this morning's earnings figures confirmed those expectations. The cell phone maker reported that its fourth-quarter profit plunged 84%, hurt by weak wireless phones sales and a deep loss in its handset division.

Net profit sank to $100 million, or 4 cents per share, down from $623 million, or 25 cents, a year earlier. Net profit from continuing operations was 5 cents. Included in the company's numbers were charges of 9 cents related to asset write-downs, layoffs and a legal settlement.

Excluding one-time items, Motorola would have earned 14 cents, a penny above analysts' expectations.

Motorola also posted a decline in its quarterly sales which slipped to $9.65 billion from $11.79 billion a year earlier. Analysts forecast a revenue of $9.6 billion for the quarter, according to Thomson Financial.

When Motorola (NYSE: MOT) announced this past Friday that CEO Ed Zander would be leaving his post come the first of next year, not too many industry pundits and analysts were surprised. Motorola seems to have lost its way in the last 18 months when it comes to the wireless handset marketplace, and Zander's inability to manage through that challenge cost him his job. But can his successor, the much-admired Motorola President Greg Brown, stage a comeback for the wireless giant?

Brown has every bit as impressive (if not more) of a resume as Zander, having racked up 25 years in the tech industry along with mounds of operations expertise. Zander's claim to fame was as past president of Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: JAVAD), although at the helm of Motorola, his reputation took a beating as the tech giant floundered against the competition, both in market share and profit.

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."