Motorola shares rose 52 cents, or 6.4 per cent, to $US8.61 in morning trading. In July, Motorola agreed to sell the network equipment division for $US1.2 billion ($A1.24 billion) to Nokia Siemens Networks, a Finnish-German joint venture. That deal is expected to close late this year. Early next year, the iconic US electronics brand will split into two companies. The mobile phone and cable box business will be called Motorola Mobility. Police radios, bar-code scanners and other products for corporate and government customers will be under Motorola Solutions. The split has been driven by a desire to present two simple stories to investors rather than one complex one. It was announced in 2008, but was soon delayed with phone sales collapsing. The successful turnaround now sets the division up for a life of its own. The phone division shipped 9.1 million units in the most recent quarter, of which 3.8 million were smart phones.