The networks unit, which on Feb. 11 was combined with a unit that makes radios and computers for corporate and government customers, wants to boost revenue generated from services, such as helping carriers design and make more efficient use of their new wireless networks. Services already account for more than one-third of the division’s $4 billion in annual sales. “There’s room to grow it by a few percentage points,” Brda says. The division, which employs thousands of people, is “highly profitable,” he says. The unit’s financial performance and exact employee numbers have not yet been reported separately. Brda’s business specializes in gear for next-generation mobile networks, based on technologies such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMax.

The idea is to offer a broader array of services for carriers that may use Motorola’s – or other vendors’ – equipment in more markets, particularly in the Americas. While he wouldn’t provide any hiring projections, Brda expects to grow his services staff in the coming months.

Striking additional partnerships is also on the agenda. The unit already buys certain gear from partners such as Cisco. “We will partner as a way to expand the reach of our products and to gain [research and development] efficiency,” Brda says. “I believe we have all of the components carriers need in the next couple of years.” The division already sells LTE and WiMax gear to carriers like Verizon Wireless and Clearwire. In the coming months, Brda expects to win a large LTE contract with giant China Mobile. “We are confident we’ll get that,” he says. “We are winning as many [LTE] deals as everyone else.”

The February split from the home unit, which manufactures set-top boxes, shouldn’t affect the networks division’s ability to find customers and win business too much. “The decision Motorola had to weigh is what business has the most synergy [with the home business],” Brda says. Motorola envisions creating cell phones that act as remote controls for televisions and set-top boxes, among other functions. “My goals, my financial objectives haven’t changed whatsoever,” Brda told me this afternoon. “It’s just that I am now reporting to a different leader,” co-CEO Greg Brown. Co-CEO Sanjay Jha heads the second part of the business, which makes mobile phones and set-top boxes.

The networks unit, which on Feb. 11 was combined with a unit that makes radios and computers for corporate and government customers, wants to boost revenue generated from services, such as helping carriers design and make more efficient use of their new wireless networks. Services already account for more than one-third of the division’s $4 billion in annual sales. “There’s room to grow it by a few percentage points,” Brda says. The division, which employs thousands of people, is “highly profitable,” he says. The unit’s financial performance and exact employee numbers have not yet been reported separately. Brda’s business specializes in gear for next-generation mobile networks, based on technologies such as Long-Term Evolution (LTE) and WiMax.

The idea is to offer a broader array of services for carriers that may use Motorola’s – or other vendors’ – equipment in more markets, particularly in the Americas. While he wouldn’t provide any hiring projections, Brda expects to grow his services staff in the coming months.

Striking additional partnerships is also on the agenda. The unit already buys certain gear from partners such as Cisco. “We will partner as a way to expand the reach of our products and to gain [research and development] efficiency,” Brda says. “I believe we have all of the components carriers need in the next couple of years.” The division already sells LTE and WiMax gear to carriers like Verizon Wireless and Clearwire. In the coming months, Brda expects to win a large LTE contract with giant China Mobile. “We are confident we’ll get that,” he says. “We are winning as many [LTE] deals as everyone else.”

The February split from the home unit, which manufactures set-top boxes, shouldn’t affect the networks division’s ability to find customers and win business too much. “The decision Motorola had to weigh is what business has the most synergy [with the home business],” Brda says. Motorola envisions creating cell phones that act as remote controls for televisions and set-top boxes, among other functions. “My goals, my financial objectives haven’t changed whatsoever,” Brda told me this afternoon. “It’s just that I am now reporting to a different leader,” co-CEO Greg Brown. Co-CEO Sanjay Jha heads the second part of the business, which makes mobile phones and set-top boxes.

When Motorola splits in two next year, Jha said he may transplant the handset and set-top box units to Silicon Valley. "We'll go where that talent is, and right now, that looks like California," Jha said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

This makes a lot of sense: Software acts as the biggest differentiator for cell phones and other gadgets nowadays. And much of that developer talent resides in California. Nokia has established a research presence in Silicon Valley in recent years. So has smartphone software maker Symbian. Apple, Google and Palm are based in California. Last, but not least, Qualcomm, where Jha used to work before joining Motorola, is headquartered in San Diego.

But uprooting Motorola's existing engineering and marketing talent won't be easy. Motorola lost a lot of great employees over the past several years, as it struggled to turn the business around. And it could lose more staffers if Jha decides to go ahead with the move.

Sure, the warm reception that the new Android-based smartphone is receiving is a big win for all of the parties involved: Verizon Wireless, Motorola and Android-maker Google. (Personally, I was impressed by the phone, and thought it represented a nice package of features, design and functionality.)

And the stock market seemed to agree. Today, Verizon's stock was up nearly 3% and Motorola's stock was up 1%, while the Nasdaq tanked nearly 3%. Google fell about 1.5%. And Apple took a hit, falling 2.5%.

But I'd venture to say that Motorola was the big winner, if only because the company was in such desperate need of a win. After all, the cell phone biz is a hits-based business. A best-selling product can reverse a company's fortunes quickly, as Motorola has seen first with its popular StarTAC, and then with the Razr line of devices.

Since Motorola has bet the farm on Android, technologists and investors would have lost a whole lot more confidence in the company's ability to manage a turnaround if it blew this launch. There was so much at stake with Droid that they had to nail it, or come close to nailing it.

At today's unveiling at the W Hotel in New York City, Verizon Wireless Chief Marketing Officer John Stratton went out of his way to pump up the fallen icon. "This is a new Motorola," said Stratton. "We took a chance, some would say a big risk at this early stage in their turnaround. But I am delighted at the level and quality of work. We will continue to work with Motorola."

Motorola co-chief executive Sanjay Jha, who seemed nervous at first, grew more comfortable as the event wore on and the media got their hands on the devices. Next year, Jha said Motorola would release at least 20 Android-based handsets. The strategy, he said, is to offer more smartphones for the lower end of the market, as well as selling more devices around the world. "Android is evolving faster than any other platform," said Jha.

For now, though, Jha was all about the Droid, claiming it was the world's best current smartphone.

Stratton agreed wit Jha's assessment, arguing that the Droid could "compete head to head" with the Apple iPhone. But he acknowledged that consumers would be the ultimate judge. "The market will tell us how well we did," said Stratton.

- Spencer Ante also publishes the Creative Capital blog. Click here to read more.

If these production runs prove to be true, that means that Motorola expects the Cliq to sell as well as Palm Pre, which became available from Sprint Nextel in June of 2009. In the first weeks of availability, customers were pouring into Sprint's stores to get the Pre, and there were shortages. And analysts estimated that Palm produced about 25,000 units per week.

Is it realistic for Motorola to expect the Cliq to do as well as the Pre? Perhaps. T-Mobile has done a good job marketing other devices, such as the T-Mobile G1 from HTC. Since Motorola has staked its whole future on the Cliq and follow-up phones, the handset maker is likely to rev up the buzz about the device as well.

But T-Mobile is a smaller carrier than Sprint, with fewer customers. And that might limit the Cliq's sales.