Motorola and Samsung made public their results for the first quarter of 2008 and, as far as mobile devices are concerned, the companies' figures clearly indicate that Moto is going down while Samsung is doing better than ever.

Samsung shipped, from the beginning of 2008, no less than 46.3 million handsets, a 33% increase when compared to the first quarter of 2007, when 34.8 million Samsung phones were sold. On the other hand, Motorola managed to sell only 27.4 million units, a serious depreciation compared to the 45.4 million phones sold in the same period of 2007.

If things continue to go on in this way, Moto will lose its current third place in the mobile industry, as Sony Ericsson, which shipped 22.3 million handsets in Q1 2008, could soon overcome the American company.

Anyway, Motorola is confident that this bad period will end soon, and that the end of 2008 will bring better overall results. The company recently separated its Handset division from the Home and Networks Mobility one, in an attempt to allow them to evolve separately, for a superior management. "Improving the product portfolio in Mobile Devices and positioning both businesses for future success remains a top priority," said Greg Brown, president and chief executive officer of Motorola. While the Home and Networks Mobility business goes well and brings substantial financial results, the Handset one is a far cry from what it was a couple of years ago.

Samsung seems to know how to take advantage of Moto's temporary decline and, with the recently announced figures, it consolidated its second position in the handset industry. Sure, the South Korean company's 46.3 million phones are still far from the 115.5 million units shipped by Nokia in the first quarter of the year, but this is, nevertheless, a great achievement for Samsung and one that Moto probably looks at with envy (although it should do it with respect).