Motorola reported a small profit in the fourth quarter of 2009, though revenues and phone shipments were down and below most analyst expectations. The US vendor reported net earnings of US$142 million for the quarter, reversing the thumping net loss of US$3.7 billion a year ago. However, revenue fell about 20 percent to US$5.7 billion, compared with average analyst expectations for US$5.94 billion, according to Reuters. For the full year 2009, the vendor posted a small net loss of US$51 million on revenues of US$22 billion. The company also improved its cash position over the year, ending 2009 on US$8 billion, a sequential quarterly increase of US$839 million. It also claimed to have made more than US$1.9 billion in cost savings during the year (including US$1.5 billion at its mobile devices division).

The company shipped 12 million phones – including 2 million smartphones – in the quarter compared with average expectations for 14.8 million from analysts polled by Reuters. Total sales at its mobile devices division reached US$1.8 billion, down 22 percent compared with the year-ago quarter, on an operating loss of US$132 million. It claimed a 3.7 percent share of the total global handset market in the quarter. Motorola’s fourth quarter was characterised by its focus on Google’s Android platform as a strategy to reverse its flagging handset fortunes. It launched its first two Android phones in the period – DROID/MILESTONE and CLIQ/DEXT – and has announced a further four Android devices that will be launched in the first quarter of this year, bringing its total to six. “Our first Android smartphone devices have been very well received,” said Sanjay Jha, Motorola co-chief executive officer and CEO of Mobile Devices. “We look forward to broadening our handset portfolio in 2010 with the launch of at least 20 smartphone devices around the world.” Its Home & Networks Mobility unit – rumoured to be for sale – reported a 24 percent decline in revenues, to US$2 billion, whilst sales at its enterprise mobility unit fell 12 percent to US$2 billion. Motorola expects overall first-quarter 2010 losses, excluding one-time items, to be between 1 cent and 3 cents a share.