Ed Zander, Motorola’s chief executive, earned himself some breathing room after seeing off a proxy challenge last week from Carl Icahn, the Wall Street investor who was seeking a seat on Motorola’s board.

Nevertheless, the 60-year-old engineer and former Sun Microsystems president, who took over at Motorola in January 2004, knows he must deliver on his promise to turn round Motorola’s lossmaking mobile phone business quickly, or face more pressure to quit.