Q&A: Motorola execs tout Symbol deal

Computerworld - Motorola Inc. in Schaumburg, Ill., on Tuesday announced plans to purchase Symbol Technologies Inc. in Holtsville, N.Y., for $3.9 billion. Two Motorola executives yesterday talked to Computerworld about the deal: Marc Rothman, senior vice president for finance and business development in the company's networks and enterprise division, and John DeFeo, corporate vice president for enterprise mobility products.

Excerpts from that interview follow:

What can you tell one customer I interviewed who was anxious about what will happen to Symbol engineers and their innovation record with this proposed acquisition?

Rothman: It's a great question. This is a story of growth, where we are buying this business from Symbol for several big reasons. One, they are the category leader in terms of product portfolio. They have 900-plus patents in the U.S. and a [distribution] channel that's second to none in terms of customers, with 12,000-plus points of distribution. But to get to your question, there are about 850 engineers in Symbol Technologies today, and we're counting on them to take us to next level of enhancing the portfolio that they have today.

So, Symbol will still have its headquarters in Holtsville under Motorola?

Rothman: The proposal is that it will be a wholly owned subsidiary and you do that for a variety of tax and legal reasons. The Symbol headquarters in Holtsville will be the cornerstone of our enterprise business.

What we're doing at Motorola is really a start-up in the area of mobile computing, while Symbol has been in the business for decades, with $1.8 billion in annual sales. We're going to leverage this transaction to take it to a different level.

Do you think Symbol's accounting fraud problems are behind it, after a $37 million SEC fine in 2004 and fraud charges against 11 Symbol executives?

Rothman: I believe it's behind them and it's not a concern for Motorola.

In terms of integrating Symbol and Motorola products, analysts have noted that Motorola recently introduced the HC700 rugged handheld and believe that product will overlap with Symbol products. Has it sold much and will it perhaps go away?

DeFeo: The HC700 family of products has been very successful for Motorola. There's been a number of customer wins. The ones we've disclosed publicly remain,and we've had several new sizeable customer wins.

Does it duplicate what Symbol does, though?

Rothman: I wouldn't look at it that way. It's very complementary and synergistic with what Symbol does in terms of a product portfolio. So it's something we'll study and look at over the next few months in terms of making sure we have every appropriate tier of products for our customers. We've made no decision about what products to rationalize at this point in time.