Moto Mobile gets CEO from Qualcomm

Global - Following Motorola's announcement in March to split its operations into two separate publicly-traded independent entities with two co-CEOs - the company has appointed Qualcomm's COO Sanjay Jha to lead one arm as CEO of Mobile Devices while incumbent Greg Brown stays on as CEO of Broadband Mobility Solutions business.

Brown and Jha will share responsibility for Motorola. Jha reports directly to the board and will be responsible for overseeing all aspects of the mobile business. He was responsible for corporate research and development at Qualcomm and joined the company in 1994. He was also the president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies (QCT) for five years.

"Jha's technical expertise and industry experience make him ideally suited to lead Mobile Devices. As co-CEOs, Brown and Jha will build on the significant changes and solid progress achieved at Motorola and the Mobile Devices business under Brown's leadership during the last seven months," Motorola's chairman of the board David Dorman said.

In a conference call held today Jha has set himself a target of a 90-day review of the business and is likely to hire qualified personnel to help with areas he's "less familiar with."

He admits Motorola has loads to do including increasing its share in the 3G market as well as its distribution network. While he might postpone or terminate some pending projects, he doesn't expect to make major changes till the second half of next year.

Qualcomm announced in a press release that EVP and group president Len Lauer will take on Jha's vacated role while his other role as president of Qualcomm CDMA Technologies will be filled by EVP Steve Mollenkopf.

Motorola's Broadband Mobility Solutions business consists of two units, the Home & Networks Mobility and Enterprise Mobility Solutions.