Motorola's head hunt finds happy HP exec
The company's reported top choice to run its cell phone division stays put.
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| The next chief of Motorola's ailing cell phone division will face a tough turnaround challenge. |
(Fortune) -- Motorola's losing streak continues as its top candidate to run the company's troubled cell phone division says he's happy with his current job.
Todd Bradley, Hewlett-Packard's (HPQ, Fortune 500) PC group chief, was reported to be Motorola's choice to head the slumping mobile phone business, according to a story in The Wall Street Journal. But while Bradley may have been at the top of Motorola's (MOT, Fortune 500) list, it's not clear how serious Bradley was about taking the assignment.
In wake of the report, Bradley sent an e-mail to HP employees saying he was happy where he is.
At HP Bradley runs the $36 billion PC group, which includes mobile devices such the iPAQ. Prior to HP, Bradley was at Palm, where from 2003 to 2005 he was CEO of palmOne. Under his watch the Treo became a big hit. But by 2006, the Treo fell out of favor with the surging popularity of Research in Motion's (RIMM) BlackBerry.
It's little wonder why Bradley wouldn't mind being considered for the heroic role as turnaround leader at Motorola. But given Motorola's high costs and rapidly shrinking business prospects, it's also little surprise that he would have second thoughts about jumping on board.
Motorola has plans to spin off the mobile phone unit, which lost $1.2 billion last year and saw its market share fall by half from 2006. Analysts say the company has been seeking a buyer to take the business off its hands, but has been unable to pull a deal off.
An HP representative said Wednesday that the company does not comment on personnel matters. 
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