"They do seem to bring some fresh air in bringing some financial discipline," said FleetBoston's Hoque.
Breen, who joined Motorola when it bought cable set-top box maker General Instrument Corp in 2000, became Galvin's second-in-command at the start of 2002 when Robert Growney retired.
"Breen is talking a good story," said Walter Casey, technology analyst at Banc One Investment Advisors, which manages US$143 billion and held 4.63 million Motorola shares Dec. 31.
Shawn Campbell, telecommunications-equipment analyst at Northern Trust Corp, said Breen told him and other investors in a September meeting that Motorola will "do something" with its unit that makes equipment to run cellular networks, such as a sale or combination.
The unit's revenue is expected to decline 15 percent this year. Business Week magazine reported in its April 1 issue that Nortel Networks Corp is in talks to buy the operation.
Shareholders said they were concerned Nortel wouldn't be able to complete a transaction.
Zafirovski came to Motorola in 2000 after running General Electric Co's lighting business. He was able to turn the Motorola phone unit's US$880 million pretax loss in the first quarter of 2001 into a US$121 million profit by the fourth quarter.
Motorola now has new products that may help it regain customers who switched to Nokia phones or other brands, investors said. One model, the silver V70, features a rotating cover instead of one that flips open.
"I was more impressed with Motorola's new handsets than I was with Nokia's," said Northern Trust's Campbell of his visit to the CTIA Wireless trade show last month. His company manages US$337.7 billion and held 20.6 million Motorola shares as of December.
"Nokia was just more of the same," Campbell said.
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