Motorola CEO: Failure Was Our Fault, Not Economy

In a rare and surprising moment of blunt honesty, Motorola joint-CEO Greg Brown has blamed Motorola's own decisions for the company's decline.  While Brown does make the obligatory hat-tip at the economy – for exacerbating the situation – the executive mainly criticizes Motorola's planning, products and blindness to the changing needs of consumers.

Speaking to the Financial Times, Brown highlighted the absence of a RAZR replacement as a key failure for Motorola.  That, together with a misplaced focus on the developing market and over-investment in budget handsets, meant Motorola missed the growing messaging trend.

Attempts to catch up with the Q series of smartphones were too little too late, and a stretched Motorola eventually slipped in both messaging-centric consumer feature-phones and smartphones too.  Brown points to his fellow CEO Sanjay Jha and their collaborative efforts to reposition Motorola as a mid- to high-range device manufacturer; the first fruits of their work are expected in the final quarter of 2009.