Letters from the inside: Why Motorola is gasping for air

Open letters from the insides of companies are always enlightening, and here’s one that’s absolutely scathing. I knew Motorola wasn’t doing very well, and was rapidly turning from a radio and electronics powerhouse into, well, something worse than a Samsung wannabe.

Engadget posted a fantastic letter about the state of Motorola today – and it’s depressing. Tales of incompetence, irresponsible change, and being completely out of touch with the state of technology today.

Your [Greg Brown] appointment to the position of chief executive gave me cause for hope, and I reached out to you; I knew you were one of the main drivers behind the enterprise acquisitions, and that you had zero expertise in consumer devices. Surely you could use some help in turning Motorola’s flagging cellphone business around? But apparently different from the rest of the incompetent senior executives at Motorola — except instead of merely being inept, you’re actually actively killing the company.

While I’m sure there’s more than one side of this story, the rest of the letter makes for fantastic reading.