Motorola Solutions acquires Psion
Motorola Solutions has acquired Psion for $200 million. This marks the end of Psion’s independent existence after 32 years, which formed the basis of Symbian and gained fame as a maker of PDAs and ‘NetBooks’.
Psion, with its headquarters in London, still has 830 employees and in 2011 had a turnover of 176 million pounds, or 218 million euros. Founded in 1980, the company released software for Sinclair’s ZX Spectrum in its early years. In 1984, Psion released the first handheld computer: the Psion Organizer. In the 1990s, Psion gained further fame with the Series 3 and Series 5 PDAs, while Psion also released several full-sized laptops in the Psion MC line in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The company’s software was the foundation of the Symbian platform. With the Series 7, in the late 1990s, the name NetBook also appeared, which would lead to legal disputes years later, when Intel chose that name to designate small laptops with Atom processors.
However, in 2001, the company withdrew from the consumer market because it was struggling to compete and because, ironically, Motorola pulled out of a major collaborative project. After that, Psion started to focus on the business market and this is the reason for the interest of Motorola Solutions. Psion is currently engaged in rugged business handhelds and in-car communications equipment. Motorola Solutions is strengthening its position in this market with the acquisition, said CEO Greg Brown.