26 Oct 2007
Third-quarter profits of the world’s third-largest handset manufacturer plunged 94 per cent, adding pressure on Motorola’s chairman and chief executive, Ed Zander whose leadership is already in question.
Zander has been criticised by billionaire and 3 per cent owner Carl Icahn after Motorola issued two profit warnings in just five months. The US mobile giant reported sales of US$8.8 billion for the third quarter of 2007, down 17 per cent from $10.6 billion last year.
The company had a third-quarter profit of $60 million, or 3 cents per share, compared to last year’s $968 million profit, or 39 cents per share."We are pleased with the improvement in the financial performance of mobile devices and we look forward to building upon the progress we have made," said the chief executive officer.The US phone maker shipped 37.2 million mobile handsets during the quarter, well above analyst expectations. This included more than 900,000 RAZR 2 devices, the thinner successor to the original and best-selling RAZR phone."During the third quarter, we maintained our focus on increasing cash flow, enhancing profitability and driving growth," said Tom Meredith, chief financial officer.
Sales in the Mobile Devices segment slumped 36 per cent, to $4.5 billion compared with the year-ago quarter. The firm currently estimates its share of the global handset market for the quarter to be 13 per cent, two percentage points behind Samsung, which recently beat them to the number two global mobile phone maker position.Shares of the company rose 4 per cent, or 75 cents, to close at $19.30
