Sanjay Jha in at Motorola as co-CEO, handset division chief

Motorola announced today that it would be appointing Qualcomm's former COO Sanjay Jha to head up its ailing handset division -- much to the chagrin of our own Ryan Block. Jha will also take on co-executive duties for the parent company along with current CEO Greg Brown. The news comes hot on the heels of speculation that the electronics-maker will spin off its mobile phone wing as a separate, publicly traded entity, though chatter persists that an outright sale of the division may be more economically advisable at this stage. So here's the question that begs asking: why has Moto gone the co-CEO route? Whether it's a matter of the board's confidence in Brown's abilities, or a by-product of some unseen moves, it comes off as unusual at best.

[grull27 @ Aug 4th 2008 11:43AM]

Well it's good that they're making a big change. They are not doing so good right now in sales so they need all the help they can get.

[Steffen Jobbs @ Aug 4th 2008 1:22PM]

Great going. He is going to singlehandedly build an iPhone killer in a few weeks and raise Motorola's handset division from the brink of extinction. I'd advise everyone here to hold off buying an iPhone 3G until the wide-screen MotoTouch RAZMing hits the streets. Call your stockbrokers up and buy Motorola shares now while they're in the toilet. Six months from now, shares should be trading in the $40 range. Go Moto.

I'm just passing this information on from what my avatar told me. He's been practicing the art of reading banana peels and dung mounds to see into the future. Plus he's says that Motorola's been down the crapper so far, the only way they can go is up. Lower primates have been known to sense impending events, so don't rule him out.

[Unbiased @ Aug 4th 2008 2:22PM]

Nerd

[Bob The Mexican @ Aug 4th 2008 11:58AM]

Sanjay Jha...

Wasn't he that weird kid on American Idol a couple of years ago?

[siddharth s @ Aug 4th 2008 12:56PM]

Bob the Mexican, that's an informative and intelligent post ... NOT.

Bob, darwinism is out there to get you. Act quickly.

[Bob The Mexican @ Aug 4th 2008 1:08PM]

siddharth s:

I was only kidding, but whatever. If you are going to try and repeat something you have seen a million times on forum posts, you should at last get it right. Darwinism should have a capital "D". As in: "You are a Dickhead."

[Nabil @ Aug 4th 2008 1:25PM]

With all due respect,

At first glance, you might misread his name.

For a second, I thought they hired Sanjaya as a Marketing stunt.

[E71 @ Aug 4th 2008 12:16PM]

Looks like I won't be purchasing any more Moto's.

Fresh incompetence brought in from an incompetent corp like Qualcomm, good move. NOT.

[siddharth s @ Aug 4th 2008 12:49PM]

Have you even worked with the guy? Or in the industry? Or spoke to people who have?

[E71 @ Aug 4th 2008 6:23PM]

I'm assuming you're just standing up for the guy because you're both hindu's...

Look at what kind of a mess Qualcomm's at... that's a result of poor leadership. That guy is a part of that leadership and I sure as hell wouldn't want to find out how much of that mess was his fault AFTER placing him in charge of Motorola.

[Peter @ Aug 6th 2008 3:59AM]

Why is E71 Highly Ranked? Do Engadget readers ever go to any other news sources? Qualcomm is not doing poorly now - they're at their all-time high with the exception of the stock market bubble in 2000. Jha is a great addition to Motorola.

[kastonie @ Aug 4th 2008 12:20PM]

I thought Ryan Block was leaving engadget to take over motorola....

[shutupandletmego @ Aug 4th 2008 12:51PM]

Seriously?

[phanbouy @ Aug 4th 2008 12:58PM]

that's funny but Josh already made that joke in the post.

[shutupandletmego @ Aug 4th 2008 12:48PM]

My guess is getting Jha to report to Brown, wouldn't really have been a promotion for him since he was reporting to QCom's CEO anyway and getting Brown to report to Jha would have been a clear demotion for Brown.

Co-CEO seems like the only mutually acceptable solution. If it will work or not is anyone's guess. Wall street seems pretty excited though.

[siddharth s @ Aug 4th 2008 12:49PM]

This is big news. I'm guessing they are co-CEI since everyone anticipates a spin off soon. And Sanjay woun't have taken the offer without CEO in it - I mean he was already the COO of Qualcomm. This guy, by the way, is really awesome. Started in Qualcomm as an engineer and quickly worked his butt of to the top. I've been under his leadership, he rocks.

I'm wondering how this will affect Qualcomm. Execution under him was clockwork! Good for Motorola (or whatever it will be called soon/later/whenever)

[cranium @ Aug 4th 2008 12:53PM]

Well when they try to sale the Razr for $100+ bucks with a new 2-year contract there's obviously something not right with whoever is making the calls over there.

Half of the people I know have owned Razr's at some point and most say theirs was free with a plan upgrade. so why would the price of an aging model go up?

I realize it's now the "Razr v2" or "v3" but that means nothing to the average consumer. It looks exactly the same and that's what they'll care most about. Besides, whatever new features that were implement are surely the standard and not the cutting edge, as the Razr has never been on the cutting edge of performance. (i realize that could be considered a pun but im not going to delete it out of principle.)

lastly, there is now a Razr 2. a full-fledged successor to the original. shouldn't that drive the original's price down? I've had a plane jane Razr for two years now and like it so much i'd happily get another one as a free upgrade. but i sure as hell am not paying anything more than my 2year upgrade fee for it.

And i found it funny that when i saw the Motorola logo up top my brain automatically perceived it with the sad face that engadget usually has drawn in. it now looks out of place without the eyes and mouth

[Peter @ Aug 6th 2008 3:57AM]

You're a bit out of touch, aren't you. Do you think any vendor actually sets the price you pay for their phones at the carrier's store? The carriers set those prices, and they charge what they can get. If people weren't still buying the original RAZR at whatever prices you're seeing, the prices would drop, so what does that tell you about sales? And to say the RAZR2 is the same as the RAZR is just stupid. They're in the same family so they have similar features, but the RAZR2 is much cleaner looking, has a MAJOR improvement in speed and UI flow, etc. You can hate on Motorola but get your facts straight.

[Sam @ Aug 4th 2008 12:57PM]

No Happy Moto Face?

[Justin @ Aug 4th 2008 1:09PM]

Yeah, co-CEO, that's a good idea. Let's make the current CEO a lame duck and deny the company real leadership at the same time. Jesus.

There's a reason why companies don't all have "co-CEOs".

[phanbouy @ Aug 4th 2008 1:49PM]

well they've gotta retain their existing CEO until he's trained his replacement from India

...oh wait

[Peter @ Aug 6th 2008 4:01AM]

Not all companies have announced a split. It's not so hard to understand.

[John @ Aug 4th 2008 1:54PM]

Why are they going with co-CEO's? Why did the T-1000 turn into every shape he could as he melted in Terminator 2?

Gotta try everything to save your ass before you dissolve.

[Atanas Boev @ Aug 4th 2008 3:18PM]

The logo of Motorola represents both CEOs, holding hands.

[Brad @ Aug 4th 2008 3:43PM]

>Bob The Mexican
Bob The Mexican @ Aug 4th 2008 11:58AM
Sanjay Jha...
Wasn't he that weird kid on American Idol a couple of years ago?
--------------------------

Aren't you the same jerk from who was arrested in illegal immigration raid in Big-Corp restroom?

[Bobby Ramirez @ Aug 4th 2008 5:01PM]

Funny how your little illegal immigration joke backfired due to the slaughtering of the English language.

[silverblackvoid @ Aug 5th 2008 1:59PM]

ha ha ha...take that you all illegal beaners.

[art @ Aug 6th 2008 1:08PM]

silverblackvoid screw you.

[happy_penguin @ Aug 4th 2008 6:54PM]

I'd like to see Motorola have a comeback. Motorola StarTac is still the best phone I have ever owned. It was compact, simple, reliable and extremely durable. Phones don't always have to be everything devices.

[smith @ Aug 5th 2008 5:02AM]

John Anderson a Professor of Natural Philosophy at Glasgow University had no idea when he started Anderson’s Institution (became University of Strathclyde in 1964). That one of its student will lead world’s third-largest producer of cellphones Motorola Inc.

Pls read:

http://ceoworld.biz/ceo/2008/08/05/strathclyde-university-passout-dr-sanjay-jha-to-lead-motorola-as-co-chief-executive-officer-in-crunchtime/