Motorola Solutions began trading as a separate independent company on January 4, 2011, under the NYSE symbol MSI. It is the legal successor of the old Motorola, Inc. ; the transaction was structured so the old Motorola changed its name to Motorola Solutions and spun off Motorola Mobility as a separate company. Motorola Solutions retained the old Motorola's pre-2011 stock price history, though the old Motorola's ticker symbol MOT was retired. The company produces and sells communications products and services to public safety and government agencies as well as private entities including utilities, mining, energy, manufacturing, hospitality, retail, transportation and logistics. After the split, Motorola Solutions comprised the previous Government and Public Safety division of Motorola Inc, the enterprise mobility management division, and the cellular infrastructure group. Chinese telecoms company Huawei and Motorola Solutions have settled their intellectual property disputes in July 2010. Motorola Solutions sold the cellular infrastructure business to Nokia Siemens Networks. The acquisition, which was originally announced in July 2010, was completed on April 29, 2011, for $975 million in cash. As part of the transaction approximately 6,900 employees transferred to Nokia Siemens Networks. In the former Motorola parent company, it was the second largest division based on revenue.
In November 2019, legal scholars and human rights activists called on Motorola to cease work with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement because their subsidiary Vigilant Solutions directly contributes to the deportation of illegal immigrants.
Post Split
On October 27, 2014, Motorola Solutions sold its Enterprise business to Zebra Technologies for $3.45 billion in cash. As part of the sale, approximately 4,500 Motorola Solutions employees from locations throughout the world were transferred to Zebra. A large majority of this business was formerly Symbol Technologies, which Motorola, Inc. acquired in 2007. In August, 2015, the company received a $1 billion investment from the private equity firmSilver Lake Partners, enabling a stock buyback and providing Silver Lake with two board seats. In December, 2015, the company announced that it would acquire Airwave Solutions, the UK based operator of the British public safety radio network servicing the police, fire and ambulance services across England, Scotland and Wales. The company completed the acquisition on February 19, 2016. Beginning in March 2017, Motorola Solutions filed a series of lawsuits against China-based two-way radio manufacturer Hytera in the United States, Germany and Australia, as well as with the United States International Trade Commission. The complaints allege that Hytera is intentionally infringing on patents owned by Motorola Solutions and utilizing trade secrets stolen by three former Motorola Solutions employees who left to join Hytera. Motorola Solutions is seeking to stop Hytera from selling and importing its devices in these countries. In April 2017, the USITC announced that it had decided to institute an investigation into Hytera’s trade practices. In August 2017, Motorola Solutions announced it completed the acquisition of Kodiak Networks, a privately-held provider of broadband push-to-talk for commercial customers. In December 2017, two-way radio manufacturer Hytera filed antitrust litigation against Motorola Solutions in alleging that Motorola is engaging in anti-competitive practices that are unlawful under the Sherman Act and Clayton Act. Hytera's complaint alleges that Motorola Solutions prevents Hytera from competing in the U.S. marketplace by enforcing inflated prices and engaging in a monopolistic scheme that includes forcing LMR dealers to drop Hytera's products. In March 2018, Motorola Solutions acquired Avigilon for about $1 billion. In January 2019, the company acquired Livermore, California-based VaaS International Holdings, and its subsidiary, license platereading technology company Vigilant Solutions, for $445 million. In July 2019, the company acquired WatchGuard Inc.
Products
Motorola Solutions manufactures two-way radios and public radio systems for first-responders and law enforcement. It also provides software packages for command centers, mapping and drone surveillance. Apart from radios, it manufactures body cameras under the Watchguard Video brand and security surveillance under the Avigilon brand. Motorola also manufactures push to talkLTE devices under the LTE LEX line. The LEX series runs on Android.
