Motorola suffers falling income despite increase in sales

Motorola Inc. is the world’s second biggest mobile manufacturer after Nokia and they have just come out with their revenue reports. Motorola has reported a minor drop in first-quarter income.

Interestingly, this comes despite a 23 percent jump in sales, which help Motorola close in on the market leaders Nokia. Market was disappointed and as a result, the share tumbled in the stock market.

Motorola also disappointed the market by disclosing a 2,500 new job cuts. Most of these would take place outside their home market of US. Most of these job cuts would be part of company’s plan to close down plants at Nogales, Mexico, and Taiwan.

Motorola continues to gain market share with the help of their Razr range of mobile phones. Their market share is higher than it had been since 1999 as Motorola expands their presence in the growing mobile markets like India and China.

The company reported that its handset shipments rose 61 percent in the quarter to 46.1 million units. Their global market share stands at 21 percent, up 4.8 percent from the first quarter of 2005. Motorola CEO Ed Zander said in a statement: “Razr was the story again. If we keep going at this rate, and we think we will, 2006 may well be the Year of the Razr, Part 2. All of you are asking ‘What’s after Razr?’ and I say ‘More Razrs.’”