Motorola: Give a Warm Welcome to Icahn

This column was originally published on RealMoney on Jan. 30 at 9:09 a.m. EST. It's being republished as a bonus for TheStreet.com readers. For more information about subscribing to RealMoney, please click here.

Motorola (MOT Quote) needs Carl Icahn.

I have never seen a company go from aggressive competitor to so-so indifferent player like this, other than what Carly Fiorina did with Hewlett-Packard (HPQ Quote).

On the other hand, I have seen Icahn stir things up in a positive way, and he should be welcomed, Jerry York-like, to Motorola. (York was helping General Motors (GM Quote) to turn around until he quit in frustration because the company stopped listening to him.)

The cell-phone market, which Motorola used to dominate, hasn't turned as horrid as the company implies. Sony Ericsson has done quite well. The climb in Nokia's (NOK Quote) stock is real; that's from share-take and better phones.

As someone who believes in the Apple (AAPL Quote) iPhone (how the heck did I get in the minority on that issue?!), I think things are only going to get worse for Motorola.

A few months ago, I had Time Warner's (TWX Quote) Dick Parsons on my show. I asked him what Carl Icahn brought to the party. He was enthusiastic and said that Icahn was a catalyst to bring about change, that he was constructive, had a lot of good ideas.

I bet Icahn does the same thing at Motorola if they let him.

They should welcome him aboard.