() is an
International Communication s
Company based in
Schaumburg, Illinois , a
Chicago Suburb .
Motorola started as Galvin Manufacturing Corporation in
1928 . The name Motorola was adopted in
1947 , but the word had been used as a
Trademark since the
1930s . Founder
Paul Galvin came up with the name ''Motorola'' when his company started manufacturing
Car Radios . A number of early companies making
Phonograph s,
Radio s, and other
Audio Equipment in the early
20th Century used the
Suffix "-ola", the most famous being
Victrola ; there was also a company that made jukeboxes called
Rockola , and a
Film editing
Device called a
Moviola .
Most of Motorola's products have been
Radio -related, starting with a
Battery Eliminator for radios, through the first
Walkie-talkie in the
World ,
Defense electronics,
Cellular infrastructure equipment, and
Mobile Phone manufacturing. The company was also strong in
Semiconductor technology, including
Integrated Circuits used in
Computer s. Motorola has been the main supplier for the
Microprocessor s used in
Commodore Amiga ,
Apple Macintosh and
Power Macintosh Personal Computer s. The
Chip used in the latter computers, the
PowerPC family, was developed with
IBM , and in a partnership with Apple (known as the
AIM Alliance ). Motorola also has a diverse line of communication products, including
Satellite systems,
Digital Cable boxes and
Modems .
On October 6,
2003 , Motorola announced that it would spin off its
Semiconductor Product Sector into a separate company called
Freescale Semiconductor, Inc. . The new company began trading on the
New York Stock Exchange on July 16th of the following year.
''See also'':
List Of Motorola Products (including Freescale's
Semiconductors )
The
Six Sigma Quality System was developed at Motorola even though it became most well known because of its use by
General Electric . It was created by engineer
Bill Smith , under the direction of
Bob Galvin (son of founder Paul Gavin) when he was running the company.
Motorola University is one of many places that provides Six Sigma training.
Recently, a massive turnaround plan has been executed successfully by
CEO Edward Zander , although many credit former CEO Chris Galvin with taking the first comprehensive steps. Due to recent
Layoff s and the
Spinoff of Freescale Semiconductor, the number of employees working for Motorola has gone from just over 150,000 to approximately 66,000. Motorola has recently been regaining market share in the cellular-phone business from
Nokia ,
Samsung and others due to stylish new cellular phone designs like the
Motorola RAZR V3 . The company also unveiled the first ever
ITunes phone, the
Motorola ROKR E1 , in September 2005, and the Motorola SLVR in January 2006. Motorola has recently announced its new
IRadio music service as a potential substitute for iTunes compatibility.
Motorola received a 100% rating on the
Corporate Equality Index released by the
Human Rights Campaign starting in
2004 , the third year of the report.
:See the
List Of Motorola Products .
