Motorola Mobility posts US$86 million loss in Q1 2012

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 per cent) were smartphones. This compares with 9.3 million devices, including 4.1 million smartphones (44 per cent), in the first quarter of 2011.

It also said it had shipped 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 per cent of revenue. Its second biggest market is Latin America, which accounts for 21 per cent of the total.

The handset business recorded 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 three per cent 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 two per cent from US$3.03 billion.

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 China.

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