Ericsson CEO Carl-Henric Svanberg said that the company would seriously think about scooping up Motorola's handset division if indeed Motorola puts it up for sale. He noted, though, that Ericsson would be "very cautious" about approaching any deal.

Ericsson does not have a long history of making acquisitions like many of its competitors, notably Nokia, which has been on a buying spree for the better part of a year. But the idea of acquiring Motorola's handset business is appealing enough that Ericsson will at the very least entertain the idea.

Being quoted by Reuters, Svanberg said, "As professional business leaders we look at everything, but we would take a very cautious view on such a thing because we do believe you are better off doing it on your own. We are probably the company of all our competitors that has acquired the least because we do base our strategy on our own internal work -- R&D and organic growth."

Motorola's handset business definitely needs a kick in the pants. Perhaps an entirely fresh line of thinking (from new owners) is what the company needs most to get back on its feet. I think Motorola still has a lot of potential. There's no doubt that it can create good products. The new Rokr E8 phone, for example, uses haptic feedback technology that is leaps and bounds ahead of the competition. Even though the surface is perfectly flat and doesn't move at all, Motorola was able to design the micro-vibrations in such a way that it actually mimics the feel of pressing a real button. Cool stuff.

New management and oversight of its mobile projects is what is needed most. If Motorola can't or won't bring in new managers of its own, then maybe Ericsson's -- or someone else's -- managers will know the right steps to take.