For much of its 80 years in business, Motorola Inc has developed products from physical science research in areas such as semiconductors, RF technologies, optoelectronics, and nanotechnology. The gallium arsenide microwave transistors used in the first commercial portable cell phones sprung from applied research at Motorola; so did the radio transponder that relayed NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong’s historic message from the Moon back to Earth. In all, the company boasts almost 23 000 patents.
In recent years, however, slumping sales and marketing battles with rival cell phone makers have strained the company’s resources and forced budget cuts, including at its research labs. Perhaps the first sign of trouble came in 2000, when the company dissolved its organic LED research program and licensed the related patents. Then in 2003 its semiconductor program spun off and became Freescale Semiconductor Inc. In June of this year, three months after Motorola announced a future...
