Motorola smartphones

Motorola is one of the most iconic names in the history of telecommunications, credited with inventing the first handheld mobile phone. Founded in Chicago in 1928, the brand spent decades at the forefront of American technological innovation, producing everything from police radios to the transceivers used by Apollo missions to communicate from the moon.

In 2011, the original Motorola Inc. split into two independent companies: Motorola Solutions (focused on enterprise and government tech) and Motorola Mobility (focused on consumer hardware). Motorola Mobility was subsequently acquired by Google in 2012, before being sold to the Chinese technology giant Lenovo in 2014.

Today, while Motorola maintains a significant design and engineering presence in Chicago, manufacturing is largely integrated into Lenovo's global supply chain. Most production occurs in China, though the brand operates significant assembly plants in India and Brazil to serve local markets and comply with regional trade requirements.