In a long-anticipated move, Ed Zander is stepping down from his post as CEO of Motorola effective last month. Zander's name has been on the virtual chopping block for months now as Motorola has slipped from #1 to #2 and now #3 in worldwide mobile handset sales, behind Nokia and now Samsung.
Motorola President and COO Greg Brown will takeover Zander's post as Moto's man in charge, despite some pundits calling for a more tech-minded outsider to be named to the post. One high-profile shareholder has even called for Motorola to be broken up into four separate companies: mobile devices, network infrastructure, public safety, and enterprise.
Meantime, rumors surfaced today that a Wi-Fi enabled MOTO Q9 smartphone may soon be headed to AT&T, and that Motorola will be releasing new multimedia devices under the suitably cryptic "Zine" moniker.
Read more about Zander's depature on Barron's.
In other Big Shot news, former Amp'd President Bill Stone has been named as the new CEO of Handango. According to the press release, "the world's leading provider of smartphone content" wanted a new leader with "proven leadership, deep wireless experience on a global scale, and innovation in mobile content. Bill's leadership experience with Amp?d Mobile, Verizon Wireless, Vodafone and J-Phone Tokyo clearly brings all of that and more to the table."
Despite Amp'd burning through money faster than a speeding bullet and going under while owing Verizon Wireless and other creditors somewhere around $100 million, I've been impressed with Stone every time I've heard him speak. When it comes to wireless software, services, and content he gets it where other executives really seem not to get it - and, frankly, I don't know enough about Amp'd's workings to know if he had anything to do with their "not getting" the business end of things.
Read Handango's press release from here.
