Motorola Mobility announced a loss for the first quarter of 2012, as its device shipment volumes fell.

The company shipped a total of 8.9 million devices during the period, of which 5.1 million (57 percent) were smartphones. This compares with 9.3 million devices, including 4.1 million smartphones (44 percent), in the first quarter of 2011.

It also said it had shipped just 100,000 tablets, down from 300,000 in the same period in 2011 (and from 200,000 in the previous sequential quarter).

North America remains Motorola’s biggest region by far in device terms, accounting for 54 percent of revenue. Its second biggest market is Latin America, which accounts for 21 percent of the total.

The handset business saw an operating loss of US$121 million, compared with a prior-year loss of US$89 million, on revenue of US$2.19 billion, up 3 percent from US$2.13 billion.

On a group level, including its home business, Motorola reported a net loss of US$86 million, compared with a loss of US$81 million in Q1 2011, on revenue of US$3.08 billion, up 2 percent from US$3.03 billion.

Operating highlights during the period include the launch of the Razr Maxx, dubbed “the longest-lasting 4G LTE smartphone,” as well as the debut of the budget Motoluxe for China, Europe and Latin America, and the Defy Mini rugged smartphone.

With regard to its planned US$12.5 billion acquisition by Google, Motorola said that it and its proposed parent “continue to work closely with the authorities in China for approval on the acquisition.” It was announced recently that the deal is seeing extended scrutiny in this country.

Motorola said that “we continue to expect the transaction to close during the first half of 2012.”