“The embattled cell phone maker slid to fifth place from fourth in global rankings in the last quarter, and has been losing ground for two years… Motorola, which also makes television set-top boxes and wireless gear, forecast a first quarter loss per share of 10 cents to 12 cents, wider than the average Wall Street estimate for a loss of 5 cents, according to Reuters Estimates,” Carew reports.
“Avian Securities analyst Matthew Hoffman said it made sense for Motorola to conserve cash by suspending its 5 cents per share quarterly dividend but he said he was anxious for more details on the executive departure,” Carew reports. “Motorola named its corporate controller Edward Fitzpatrick as acting CFO to replace Paul Liska, without explaining Liska’s departure.”
MacDailyNews Take: Not even a “See ya, wouldn’t want to be ya!” from Liska?
Carew reports, “Motorola, which faces competition from Apple Inc’s iPhone, said mobile device revenue fell 51 percent to $2.35 billion in the fourth quarter, and its operating loss widened to $595 million from $388 million a year ago.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: In case you were wondering, this is what the bloodbath looks like. The wakes of relentless innovators are destined to be littered with the remains of the complacent (government bailouts excepted).
In May 2007, Motorola’s then-Chairman and then-CEO Ed Zander boasted that his company was ready for competition from Apple’s iPhone, due out the following month. “How do you deal with that?” Zander was asked at the Software 2007 conference. Zander quickly retorted, “How do they deal with us?”
Barely six months later, this crossed the wire: Beleaguered Motorola’s CEO Zander out; ‘plans to spend more time with his family’ – November 30, 2007
In November 2008, The NPD Group reported that Apple’s iPhone 3G had surpassed the Motorola RAZR as the leading handset purchased by adult consumers in the U.S. in the third quarter of 2008.
