But its different units have had varying success in the recent past. "The government side is doing well. The network infrastructure group hasn't grown. The enterprise group hasn't grown, but their set top box business has grown," said Redman.  

He believes that for Motorola to grow its networking division, it will need to find a partner. But the move to separate the handset organization "makes it easier to go to an outside partner," added Redman.

With the separation of the businesses and the disruption caused by it, competitors will likely try to capitalize on the confusion to grab more market share. "Any time there is a split like this, there's an opportunity for competitors to take advantage of the fear, uncertainty and doubt created by a major divesture like this. We'll see some of that in the short term," commented Abner Germanow, director of enterprise networking research at IDC.

But most observers agree that customers will continue to have confidence in Motorola's other businesses. "I think lot of enterprise folks may think it's good they don't have the distraction anymore," said Michael King, research director at Gartner. "The cable business is still a huge company by any standard. I don't think ‘will these guys be around in five years' is a question anyone will ask of Motorola," he said.

The challenge for Motorola now is to move beyond its "one hit wonder" and create a more stable and consistent business across a larger number of product lines, Redman said.