Motorola Mobility says first-quarter revenues rose by 22 per cent to US$3 billion, and net loss shrank to US$81 million from US$212 million a year ago.

In the quarter, the company generated US$107 million in operating cash flow, its seventh consecutive quarter of positive cash generation. Total cash of US$3.3 billion at the end of the quarter includes cash, cash equivalents and cash deposits.

"In the first quarter, we reached a major milestone in our history by becoming a new independent, public company,” commented Sanjay Jha, chairman and chief executive officer, Motorola Mobility. “We enhanced our product portfolio by delivering compelling experiences with the launch of Motorola ATRIX and Motorola XOOM, as well as offering unique end-to-end video solutions for the home."

Mobile Devices net revenues in the first quarter were US$2.1 billion, up 30 per cent compared with the year-ago quarter. The GAAP operating loss was $89 million compared to an operating loss of US$192 million in the year-ago quarter.

Motorola Mobility shipped a total of 9.3 million mobile devices, including 4.1 million smartphones and more than 250,000 Motorola XOOM tablets in the quarter to end-March. In comparison, Motorola Mobility shipped 8.5 million mobile devices, including 2.3 million smartphones in Q110.

The company’s outlook for the second quarter of 2011 is for a net profit of up to US$35 million, or at least breakeven.

The price of shares of BlackBerry manufacturer, Research In Motion (RIM) plunged April 28 after the company issued an unexpected profits warning, leading to a temporary suspension in trading of its shares.

RIM now expects fully diluted earnings per share for Q1 to be in the range of US$1.30-US$1.37, lower than the range of US$1.47-US$1.55 previously forecasted by RIM on March 24, 2011.

This shortfall is primarily due to shipment volumes of BlackBerry smartphones that are now expected to be at the lower end of the range of 13.5-14.5 million forecasted in March and a shift in the expected mix of devices shipped towards handsets with lower average selling prices.

Gross margin for the first quarter is expected to be similar to the 41.5 per cent previously guided.

This mix shift is also expected to result in revenue that is slightly below the range of US$5.2-US$5.6 billion guided on March 24. Expected shipments of BlackBerry PlayBook in the quarter continue to be in line with previous expectations and the company confirmed that it had not experienced any significant supply disruptions in Q1 due to the impact of the Japan earthquake.

RIM expects to achieve full year fully diluted earnings per share of approximately US$7.50, which reflects anticipated strong revenue growth in the third and fourth quarters of the fiscal year driven primarily by the launches of new BlackBerry smartphone products and prudent cost management.

Qatar Telecom (Qtel) announced that group revenue increased by 16.5 per cent to QAR 7.5 billion (US$1.76 billion) during the first quarter ended March 31, fuelled by ongoing growth across its international portfolio.

The group’s consolidated customer base grew by 13.9 per cent to stand at 75.6 million, while EBITDA increased 17 per cent to QAR 3.6 billion. Qtel said EBITDA margin remained robust throughout the period at 48 per cent.

Net profit attributable to Qtel shareholders stood at QAR 800 million, down from QAR 1.2 billion a year earlier.

Highlights of the quarter included the acquisition of an additional shareholding in Tunisiana resulting in 100 per cent consolidation in group results, and a successful public listing of Wataniya Mobile Palestine.

Nokia has announced it will be cutting around 4,000 jobs by the end of 2012, with the majority of reductions in Denmark, Finland and the UK. The job cuts are related to the handset manufacturer’s choice to switch its primary smartphone operating system from Symbian to Microsoft’s Windows Mobile platform.

Nokia also said it will transfer its Symbian software activites, including about 3,000 employees, to Accenture.

These measures are part of Nokia’s target to reduce its Devices & Services operating expenses by €1 billion (US$1.48 billion) for the full year 2013 in comparison to the full year 2010.

Nokia also plans to consolidate the company’s research and product development sites so that each site has a clear role and mission. Nokia expects the expansion of some sites and the contraction or closure of others.

All employees affected by the reduction plans can stay on the Nokia payroll through the end of 2011. Nokia expects personnel reductions to occur in phases until the end of 2012, linked to the roll-out of Nokia’s planned product and services portfolio.

"At Nokia, we have new clarity around our path forward, which is focused on our leadership across smart devices, mobile phones and future disruptions," said Stephen Elop, Nokia president and CEO. "However, with this new focus, we also will face reductions in our workforce. This is a difficult reality, and we are working closely with our employees and partners to identify long-term re-employment programmes for the talented people of Nokia."

Ericsson reported that its first-quarter sales rose by 17 per cent to SEK 53 billion (US$8.82 billion), with net profit jumping by 220 per cent to SEK 4.1 billion, compared to SEK 1.3 billion a year ago. The lower figure from 2010 was partly due to a SEK 2.2 billion restructuring charge.

Gross margin in the quarter was flat year-over-year at 38.5 per cent.

R&D expenses amounted to SEK 8 billion, an increase by 10 per cent year-over-year. The increase is a result of the planned higher investments in radio, such as TD-LTE and IP as well as the acquired LG-Ericsson operations.

The increase in group sales was driven by segment Networks where revenues grew 35 per cent year-over-year with an EBITA margin of 20 per cent. The strong demand for mobile broadband resulted in five out of ten regions showing growth year-over-year. Countries with especially strong growth were the US, India, Japan, Korea and Russia. China had continued good momentum for 2G.

The company’s supply chain of components is partly dependent on Japan and it estimates that there will be delays in delivery of certain products due to the impact of the earthquake and tsunami there.

"During 2010 we continued to gain market shares in 3G and at least maintained our market shares in 4G/LTE of more than 50%,” commented Hans Vestberg, president and CEO of Ericsson. “While GSM will continue to exist for many years, we will see the bulk of investments shifting to 3G/WCDMA and 4G/LTE. In services we increased the market share and we continue to be the leading provider in the industry," he added.