Phone sales beat outlook
By Peter Svensson |
April 30, 2010, Friday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
MOTOROLA Inc posted an unexpected profit in the first quarter, as sales of its new phones outdid its own forecasts.
It also gave an outlook that was brighter than Wall Street's prediction, and its shares jumped in premarket trading.
However, it has lost its position as the largest United States maker of phones to Apple Inc. Motorola sold a total of 8.5 million phones in the quarter, while Apple sold 8.8 million iPhones. Four years ago, when the Razr was still popular, Motorola sold 46.1 million phones in the first quarter.
The company has been trying to turn around that long slide in phone sales by focusing on new smartphones, including the Droid.
That strategy is bearing fruit, but too slowly to offset the drop in overall phone sales. Motorola sold 2.3 million smartphones in the first three months of the year. It had said it expected to sell less than 2 million.
A year ago, Motorola sold 14.7 million phones in the fourth quarter. The drop in phone revenue in the latest quarter was just 9 percent - less steep than the drop in overall unit sales would suggest. Motorola can charge much more for the new smartphones than for run-of-the-mill phones.
As a whole, Motorola earned US$69 million, or 3 cents per share in the quarter. In the same quarter a year ago, it lost US$231 million, or 13 cents per share.
It also gave an outlook that was brighter than Wall Street's prediction, and its shares jumped in premarket trading.
However, it has lost its position as the largest United States maker of phones to Apple Inc. Motorola sold a total of 8.5 million phones in the quarter, while Apple sold 8.8 million iPhones. Four years ago, when the Razr was still popular, Motorola sold 46.1 million phones in the first quarter.
The company has been trying to turn around that long slide in phone sales by focusing on new smartphones, including the Droid.
That strategy is bearing fruit, but too slowly to offset the drop in overall phone sales. Motorola sold 2.3 million smartphones in the first three months of the year. It had said it expected to sell less than 2 million.
A year ago, Motorola sold 14.7 million phones in the fourth quarter. The drop in phone revenue in the latest quarter was just 9 percent - less steep than the drop in overall unit sales would suggest. Motorola can charge much more for the new smartphones than for run-of-the-mill phones.
As a whole, Motorola earned US$69 million, or 3 cents per share in the quarter. In the same quarter a year ago, it lost US$231 million, or 13 cents per share.
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