Motorola Names Jha To Head Up Handset Division

Motorola has named Sanjay Jha, CEO of Qualcomm, to head up the company's handset division. Jha will also act as the co-chief executive to Greg Brown.

Jha is charged with turning around a beleaguered handset division that has been mired in finding a follow-up to the once popular RAZR. Last week, Motorola announced they has shipped 28.1 million cellphones in the second quarter, up from 27 million in the first. Jha will have to deal with fierce competition in the smartphone space from RIM, Apple and Palm who have seen their fortunes reversed with the unlikely popularity of the Palm Centro which has shipped over 2 million units.

In the US, the Moto Q 9 series is now limited to Verizon (Moto Q 9c), Alltel, (Moto Q 9c) and AT&T (Moto Q 9h). Sprint's Moto Q 9c went missing last month with rumors of it becoming EOL (end of life). The Sprint Moto Q 9c was the only smartphone with Windows Mobile 6.1, a feature that you would think would be marketable. In addition, the Verizon Q 9c has been out of stock since last week on Verizon Wireless, surprising for a phone that was just released in May of this year.

Limited models and availability are contributing factors to Motorola's inability to compete in the smartphone space. While not an entirely new design, the Moto Q Napoleon looks to bring excitement to the platform, but it does not appear to be the game changer Motorola needs to reverse it's fortunes. No small feat for Jha as he takes over for Stu Reed who left in March.

via NY Times