Motorola Sees Loss in Q1, Confirms Android Phones

Motorola, Inc. announced today its financial results for the first quarter of the ongoing year, reporting sales of $5.4 billion and a net loss of $231 million, or .10 per share. At the same time, the company announced $291 million net loss from continuing operations, which also included net charges of .05 per share, which are related to cost-reduction initiatives.

The company's Mobile Devices unit registered sales of $1.8 billion, 45 percent lower compared to the same quarter a year ago. The operating loss for the division was $509 million, up from the operating loss of $418 million in Q1 2008. According to the company, the unit managed to reduce the loss from the $595 million registered in the fourth quarter of the last year. The Mobile Devices segment managed to ship 14.7 million handsets during the quarter, registering an estimated market share of 6 percent globally.

Sanjay Jha, co-CEO of Motorola and CEO of Mobile Devices, said, “In the quarter at Mobile Devices, we implemented aggressive actions to reduce costs and also gained solid traction on improving operational effectiveness. Customer feedback on our smartphone roadmap remains very positive, and we plan to have differentiated Android-based devices in stores in time for the fourth-quarter holiday season. We significantly reduced the operating loss in Mobile Devices compared with the fourth quarter of 2008 and have increased the 2009 annual cost-reduction target to more than $1.3 billion.”

Motorola also announced that the Mobile Devices unit would continue to work on differentiated mobile phones expected to launch in the fourth quarter of 2009. During the first quarter, it managed to release seven new phones, among which the MOTOSURF A3100, with 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity, and Evoke QA4, while the MOTO W233 Renew, the first phone in the world made with recycled plastics has started shipping as well.

When talking about the second quarter, Motorola says that it expects to see further loss from continuing operations, within the .03 to .05 per share range.