Are further splits in Motorola's future?

Motorola announced Wednesday that it planned to spin off its mobile phone business into a separately traded company, unlocking the value of that division as well as giving new focus to its infrastructure group. But if focusing on core businesses is the goal of Moto’s restructuring, does that mean further subdivisions of the company are waiting?

If the separation receives approval, Motorola handsets will become a very integrated company dealing solely with the consumer devices space, but the new Motorola’s remaining business units won’t have the same continuity. Motorola’s networks and enterprise divisions build set-top boxes and IPTV gear, base station infrastructure spanning three separate standards as well as iDEN equipment, industrial and enterprise devices and machine-to-machine gadgets, and government radio equipment and devices. Its customers range from large enterprises and public safety agencies to cable companies and wireless operators.

Separating handsets from infrastructure is nothing new in the wireless vendor world. All of the major vendors have either sold off their phone businesses or separated them from their infrastructure businesses through joint ventures. Motorola is the only vendor with a sizable equipment business tied to handset business. Spinning that unit off will allow Motorola to concentrate more on infrastructure, but it may encounter the same problem in identifying, which equipment business is its core business, said James Brehm, senior consultant for Frost and Sullivan.

“Now it’s equipment, equipment, equipment, handsets,” Brehm said. After the spin-off “it will be equipment, equipment, equipment,” he said. “Those products don’t fit together very tightly. Perhaps acquisition is the target of the spin-off, or maybe they’re looking at further spin-offs.”

The options Motorola faces are numerous. It could further spin-off business units, one or more separate companies focusing on government, carrier networks, IPTV or enterprise (the latter would require essentially letting Symbol Technologies go after acquiring it last year). It could sell one or of its business units to competing vendors. Or it could remain whole, balancing the needs and interests of different business units. Which will happen, Brehm, wouldn’t hazard a guess. But he added the most unlikely scenario is a competitor buying Motorola outright. Different vendors may be interested in specific parts of the company, but each vendor would be interested in a different part, Brehm said.

“If I was to consider Motorola as a Lego Block and Nortel or Alcatel-Lucent as Lego blocks, I don’t see those blocks fitting together very well, Brehm said.

Probably one of the most attractive of Motorola’s businesses right now is its WiMAX business, which, while not pulling in huge revenues just yet, is set to perform well as it the company racks up contract commitments. Motorola is also a huge player in emergency and government radio networks and, by virtue of the Symbol acquisition, is one of the largest makers of enterprise gear. Oddly, the enterprise business probably has more synergy with the handset business than it does with Motorola’s other divisions, said Forrester Research analyst Ellen Daley. That may lead to the Motorolas working closely together.

“The two companies will be well served to pal up to make sure that the device unit is not only focusing on consumer devices—but also enterprise devices,” Daley said.