Cell phone maker Motorola Inc. said Wednesday its profit fell 84 percent in the fourth quarter and warned that the recovery in its struggling handset unit will take longer than expected. Its shares plummeted. New CEO Greg Brown, who took over this month after Ed Zander resigned following four rollercoaster years, portrayed a longer turnaround than Wall Street had expected and bluntly acknowledged that what the No. 3 cell-phone maker is doing isn't working.
"Demand for some of our products has slowed in an intensified competitive landscape," he said on a conference call. "Our consistency of new product introduction is still not where it needs to be. And we still have gaps in the portfolio in areas that are experiencing high rates of growth, including 3G (third-generation), China and other emerging markets." Motorola shares plunged $1.97, or 16 percent, to $10.35 in morning trading after hitting a four-year low of $10.03.
... sales from the mobile devices division, dominated by cell phones, sank 38 percent to $4.8 billion in the fourth quarter as the company failed to connect with consumers over the holidays. The handset unit, its biggest, had an operating loss of $388 million and shipped 40.9 million devices during the quarter, in line with analyst expectations but down sharply from past quarters.
Didn't Moto gamble the company on the Razr a few years ago? I wonder what they will do now to survive. Motorola stock plummets on handset woes - Yahoo News | 
