Motorola Revenues Slip, But Profit Remains

Despite a 17% drop in revenues for the latest quarter, Motorola managed to post a $40 million profit, and even forecast improved results for the next quarter. The company tallied revenues of $8.8 billion, compared to $10.6 billion a year earlier. Motorola has reported losses twice during the past year, and a profit is considered a success in an era of strong competition in the cellular handset market. The handset unit of Motorola posted a loss and revenue fell 36% during the quarter. Sales for the unit that includes public safety radio was up 47% compared to a year ago, and profit was up 20% to $336 million. Motorola investor Carl Icahn has been calling for Motorola to spin off the company’s divisions into separate companies, noting that poor performance in one unit pulls down the performance of the entire company. Motorola recently sold off its embedded computing division, but has announced no plans to sell off other units.