Motorola posts sales decline profit loss — MobileMonday Global: Industry News

^{Channel stuffing catches up} Motorola posts sales decline profit loss

21 Apr 2007 at 14:54 GMT Timo Poropudas

Motorola earlier this week posted flat sales, an operating loss and lower shipments and market share than in the year-ago quarter. Evidently the number two mobile phone maker is reaping now the results of last year’s channel stuffing that help its star to shine till January.

Motorola’s revenue for the first quarter was USD 9.4 billion, down slightly from USD 9.6 billion in year-ago quarter. Net loss was USD 181 million, down from a USD 686 million profit in the year-ago quarter.

Mobile device sales, which typically account for around two-thirds of the company’s revenue, were USD 5.4 billion for the first quarter, down 15 percent from previous year.

Motorola’s mobile devices segment incurred an operating loss of USD 231 million, down nearly a billion dollars from the year-ago quarter.

The company shipped 45.4 million mobile phones in Q1, down from 46.1 million units in the year-ago quarter. The shipments were strong in the Americas, but weak in emerging markets and Europe.

Motorola estimated that its global market share for the quarter was 17.5 percent, down from more than 20 percent in the year-ago quarter and 23 percent in the prior quarter.