Bob Galvin, One Of The Mobile Industry's Fathers, Dies

It won't get a fraction of the response to Steve Jobs's death, but another seminal CEO of the mobile industry has died. Motorola's former chairman and CEO Bob Galvin, under whose watch the firm became a global mobile and electronics player, has passed away aged 89.

Focal Points:

• Galvin was a true forerunner of Jobs, who recognized the opportunities of putting electronics and communications in people's pockets in a usable and affordable way. Without the innovations that took place under his auspices, the iPhone would certainly not exist in quite the form it takes today. He was the second of a trio of Galvins who ran Motorola, and the most significant, taking over from his father Paul in 1959 - sadly the dynastic principle fell apart when he duly handed over to his son Christopher, who presided over the start of Motorola's steep decline in handset fortunes and was forced out in 2003.
• When the second Galvin retired as chairman in 1990, the company had gone from $290m turnover to $10.8bn, had kicked off the handset business and was engaged in a massive struggle for dominance with Nokia, which would define the sector until both companies failed to adapt to the new mobile wave, as epitomized by Apple.
• Highlights of Galvin's CEOship included holding the first prototype cellphone demonstration in Washington DC in 1971; unveiling the world's first mobile handset, the DynaTAC, in 1973; making the first commercial mobile phone call in 1983; and introducing the world's first compact cellphone, the MicroTAC, in 1989. The impact of these devices and tests on the world would make that of the iPhone look trivial, and while other firms were carrying out advanced mobile research too, it was Galvin's Motorola which took this to market first, and in a way which consumers understood.

When Christopher was pushed out of Motorola, he and his father, with brother Michael, founded Harrison Street Capital, an investment management firm focused on real estate and high technology. Sanjay Jha, CEO of Motorola Mobility, said in a statement: "Today, we lost a transformative leader and visionary. We will continue to honor Bob Galvin's legacy here at Motorola Mobility. He was committed to innovation, and was responsible for guiding Motorola through the creation of the global cellular technology industry. We extend our deepest sympathies to his family."