Motorola Solutions, Inc., is an American video equipment,
telecommunications equipment
Telecommunications equipment (also telecoms equipment or communications equipment) are hardware which are used for the purposes of telecommunications. Since the 1990s the boundary between telecoms equipment and IT hardware has become blurred as a ...
, software, systems and services provider that succeeded
Motorola, Inc., following the spinoff of the mobile phone division into
Motorola Mobility
Motorola Mobility LLC, marketed as Motorola, is an American consumer electronics manufacturer primarily producing smartphones and other mobile devices running Android. It is a subsidiary of the Chinese multinational technology company Lenovo.;;
...
in 2011. The company is headquartered in
Chicago, Illinois
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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History
Motorola Solutions began trading as a separate independent company on January 4, 2011, under the NYSE symbol MSI. In April 2011, Motorola Solutions completed the sale of its cellular infrastructure business to
Nokia Siemens Networks for $975 million in cash. As part of the transaction, approximately 6,900 employees were transferred to Nokia Siemens Networks. The same month, Chinese telecommunications company
Huawei
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. ( ; ) is a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China. It designs, develops, produces and sells telecommunications equipment, consumer electronics and various sma ...
and Motorola Solutions settled their intellectual property disputes.
In 2012 Motorola Solutions purchased
Psion for $200million and added it to its Enterprise business. A large majority of the Enterprise business was formerly
Symbol Technologies, which Motorola, Inc. had acquired in 2007. On October 27, 2014, Motorola Solutions sold its Enterprise business to
Zebra Technologies
Zebra Technologies Corporation is an American mobile computing company specializing in technology used to sense, analyze, and act in real time. The company manufactures and sells marking, tracking, and computer printing technologies. Its product ...
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.
In August, 2015, the company received a $1 billion investment from the
private equity
In the field of finance, the term private equity (PE) refers to investment funds, usually limited partnerships (LP), which buy and restructure financially weak companies that produce goods and provide services. A private-equity fund is both a t ...
firm
Silver Lake Partners
Silver Lake is an American global private equity firm focused on investments in technology, technology-enabled and related industries. Founded in 1999, the firm is one of the largest technology investors in the world. Its investment holdings hav ...
, enabling a
stock buyback
Share repurchase, also known as share buyback or stock buyback, is the re-acquisition by a company of its own shares. It represents an alternate and more flexible way (relative to dividends) of returning money to shareholders. When used in coord ...
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 (USITC). 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 (PTT) for commercial customers.
In December 2017, two-way radio manufacturer
Hytera filed
antitrust
Competition law is the field of law that promotes or seeks to maintain market competition by regulating anti-competitive conduct by companies. Competition law is implemented through public and private enforcement. It is also known as antitrust ...
litigation against Motorola Solutions in alleging that Motorola is engaging in anti-competitive practices that are unlawful under the
Sherman Act
The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (, ) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce. It was passed by Congress and is named for Senator John Sherman, its principal author.
...
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 March 2018, Motorola Solutions acquired Plant Holdings, Inc., which holds the Airbus DS Communications business, from Airbus Defense and Space, Inc., an indirect subsidiary of Airbus SE.
In January 2019, the company acquired
Livermore, California
Livermore (formerly Livermorès, Livermore Ranch, and Nottingham) is a city in Alameda County, California. With a 2020 population of 87,955, Livermore is the most populous city in the Tri-Valley. It is located on the eastern edge of Californi ...
-based VaaS International Holdings, and its subsidiary, license plate reading technology company Vigilant Solutions, for $445 million.
In July 2019, the company acquired WatchGuard Inc.
In July 2020, the company acquired IndigoVision.
In August 2020, the company acquired Pelco Inc. A California-based Video Security company for $110M in cash from Transom Capital. Pelco was previously a Schneider Electric brand.
In September 2020, the company acquired
Polaris Networks, a global wireless technologies solutions provider.
In July 2021, the company acquired Openpath Security Inc., a cloud-based, mobile access control provider, for an undisclosed sum.
In November 2021, the company acquired Envysion, a provider of enterprise video security and business analytics for the retail industry.
In March 2022, the company acquired Ava Security Limited, a
UK-based global provider of cloud-native video security and analytics.
In April 2022, the company acquired Calipsa, a UK-based video analytics start-up.
In May 2022, the company acquired Videotec, an Italy-based video security manufacturer.
In August 2022, the company acquired Barrett Communications, an Australia-based HF/VHF communications systems provider.
In December 2022, the company acquired Rave Mobile Safety, a Massachusetts-based public safety mass notification and incident management cloud platform.
Products
Motorola Solutions manufactures two-way radios and public safety 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 camera
A body camera, bodycam, body worn video (BWV), body-worn camera, or wearable camera is a wearable audio, video, or photographic recording system.
Body cameras have a range of uses and designs, of which the best-known use is as a part of poli ...
s, the Watchguard Video brand for law enforcement, while others geared more towards private business and security surveillance under the Avigilon brand. On 3 August MSI acquired California based Video Security brand Pelco for US$110M in cash.
With this acquisition Motorola Solutions now has 3 Video Security brands under the Video Security and Analytics business. Avigilon, Pelco and IndigoVision
Motorola also manufactures
push to talk LTE devices under the ''LTE LEX'' line. The LEX series runs on
Android.
Controversies
In August 2021, Motorola Solutions filed a 52-page complaint against
Verkada with the
United States International Trade Commission, alleging that Verkada cameras and software infringe upon patents held by Motorola subsidiary Avigilon. Verkada subsequently filed a lawsuit against Motorola Solutions in the
California Northern District Court in September 2021,
arguing that Motorola has "sought to effectively shut Verkada’s business down".
[ Later in September, the International Trade Commission initiated its investigation into Motorola's complaint, with Verkada stating in its response that it does not infringe upon any of Motorola's patents.
]
Involvement in Israeli settlements
On 12 February 2020, the United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmoni ...
published a database
In computing, a database is an organized collection of data stored and accessed electronically. Small databases can be stored on a file system, while large databases are hosted on computer clusters or cloud storage. The design of databases ...
of all business enterprises involved in certain specified activities related to the Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territories, including East Jerusalem
East Jerusalem (, ; , ) is the sector of Jerusalem that was held by Jordan during the 1948 Arab–Israeli War, as opposed to the western sector of the city, West Jerusalem, which was held by Israel.
Jerusalem was envisaged as a separ ...
, and in the occupied Golan Heights
The Golan Heights ( ar, هَضْبَةُ الْجَوْلَانِ, Haḍbatu l-Jawlān or ; he, רמת הגולן, ), or simply the Golan, is a region in the Levant spanning about . The region defined as the Golan Heights differs between di ...
. Motorola Solutions Inc. and its subsidiary company, Motorola Solutions Israel Ltd., have been listed on the database in light of their involvement in activities related to "the supply of surveillance and identification equipment for settlements,
the wall
A wall is a structure and a surface that defines an area; carries a load; provides security, shelter, or soundproofing; or, is decorative. There are many kinds of walls, including:
* Walls in buildings that form a fundamental part of the s ...
and checkpoints
Checkpoint may refer to:
Places
* Border checkpoint, a place on the land border between two states where travellers and/or goods are inspected
* Security checkpoint, erected and enforced within contiguous areas under military or paramilitary cont ...
directly linked with settlements". The international community
The international community is an imprecise phrase used in geopolitics and international relations to refer to a broad group of people and governments of the world.
As a rhetorical term
Aside from its use as a general descriptor, the term is t ...
considers Israeli settlements built on land occupied by Israel to be in violation of international law.
On 5 July 2021, Norway
Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of ...
's largest pension fund KLP said it would divest from Motorola Solutions, together with 15 other business entities implicated in the UN report for their links to Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, saying it was "a very straightforward decision" given the use of the company's video security and software in border surveillance.
See also
* Astro (Motorola)
* Dimetra
DIMETRA IP is the brand name under which Motorola markets its implementation of the TETRA digital radio communications standard. When Motorola split into Motorola Solutions and Motorola Mobility in 2011, Motorola Solutions retained Dimetra a ...
References
External links
*
{{Authority control
*
2011 establishments in Illinois
American brands
American companies established in 2011
Electronics companies established in 2011
Manufacturing companies based in Chicago
Corporate spin-offs
Companies listed on the New York Stock Exchange
Networking companies of the United States
Radio-frequency identification companies
Schaumburg, Illinois
Silver Lake (investment firm) companies
Telecommunications companies established in 2011
Telecommunications equipment vendors