UPDATE 1-Motorola eyes mobile chief with consumer know-how

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NEW YORK, March 3 (Reuters) - Motorola Inc (MOT.N) wants a full-time leader with consumer electronics knowledge for its loss-making mobile devices unit, Chief Executive Officer Greg Brown said on Monday.

Brown, who took over from Stu Reed as head of the loss- making unit around the start of February, said he was hoping a new leader could help the recovery of the unit, which has had several different leaders in recent years.

"We've got to get that stabilized," he said during a Webcast of an analyst meeting.

Brown said executives with experience in mobile phone, computer or consumer electronics industries could be suitable.

The world's third biggest mobile phone maker, Motorola has been losing market share to rivals such as Nokia Oyj (NOK1V.HE) and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd (005930.KS) amid criticism it depended too long on the aging Razr phone range.

Facing a plummeting share and pressure from activist investor Carl Icahn, Motorola said at the end of January it was looking at options such as a potential separation of mobile devices to help create value for shareholders.

Brown said he was taking nothing for granted when asked about how Motorola will cope with moves by rivals such as global leader Nokia to make inroads into the North American market where Motorola is the leader.

"I expect (competition) to be particularly rugged for the remainder of 2008 and into 2009," he said during the Webcast.

Brown, who spends about 80 percent of his time working with the mobile devices unit, repeated his hopes for a "product-led" recovery and said Motorola would start bringing out an improved phone range late this year and into next year.

Motorola would also look for new expertise in product management, software and marketing, he added.

While Motorola has been good at designing cell phone hardware in the past, Brown said it should improve on software development as it works with too many different platforms.

He said to expect a moderate investment in Android, a collaborative phone software system being built by Google Inc (GOOG.O) and said Motorola would keep offering products based on Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) software to its business customers.

Brown said he was watching to see whether the company, including its enterprise mobility business, which sells to companies, was being hurt by macro economic conditions.

He repeated earlier warnings the mobile phone unit would have a challenging 2008, but said it could eventually get back to healthy profit margins without giving a time frame.

"Longer term, there's no structural impediments to driving double-digit margins in handsets," said Brown, adding he spends about 80 percent of his time working on the mobile unit, Motorola's biggest division.

Motorola shares closed down 16 cents at $9.81 on New York Stock Exchange on Monday. (Reporting by Sinead Carew, editing by Phil Berlowitz)