Motorola Gets New CEO

Three months after third-generation CEO Christopher Galvin announced that he would step down, Motorola (NYSE: MOT  ) has found his replacement. This time, they looked to the outside for help.

Tuesday morning, Motorola named former Sun Microsystems (Nasdaq: SUNW  ) president and COO Edward J. Zander as the company's new chairman and CEO. After spending 15 years helping build Sun, Zander left the company in June 2002. Soon after, he settled into his current role as managing director at Silver Lake Partners, a technology-focused private equity firm.

Motorola is hoping that an outsider will bring a fresh perspective to what needs to be done.

Galvin, whose grandfather started Motorola 75 years ago, announced his resignation in September. He was driven out by the board of directors because of differences over the company's future, and Galvin's failure to take timely, decisive action. One of those differences concerned the semiconductor business. Not long after Galvin's announcement, the company announced that unit would be spun off.

Motorola had once been the world's leader in cell phone sales. But under Galvin's leadership, Motorola dropped to No. 3, behind Nokia (NYSE: NOK  ) and South Korea's Samsung Electronics. Motorola's standing won't improve anytime soon, since two camera phones missed key holiday-season deadlines back in September.

With that in mind, it's largely positive that Motorola chose a fresh face with big-time experience. Zander will take over as CEO on Jan. 5, 2004.

Mike Zafirovski, Motorola's president and COO, had been considered by many to be a leading candidate for the position. In the press release announcing Zander's appointment, the company said that he would maintain his current role.

Discuss Motorola's new CEO and the future of the company on the Motorola discussion board -- only at Fool.com. Jeff Hwang can be reached at JHwang@fool.com.