In a sign that it may be finally turning its fortunes around, Motorola Inc surprised investors on Thursday by reporting a small profit for the second quarter and revealing it had shipped more cellphones than in the first quarter.
The profit was the result of a sales increase across all units from the first quarter, helped by cost cuts. It has laid off more than 10,000 workers since last year.
The Schaumburg, Illinois-based company earned US$4 million, less than US$0.01 per share, in the three months ended on June 30. That includes accounting charges of US$0.02 per share.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had been expecting a loss of US$0.03 per share.
In the same quarter a year ago, Motorola lost US$28 million, or US$0.02 per share.
Its sales fell 7.4 percent to US$8.1 billion, but that exceeded the US$7.7 billion that analysts were predicting.
The company shipped 28.1 million cellphones, up from 27 million in the first quarter, and said it maintained its share of the global handset market.
Research firm IDC said that Motorola’s market share actually slipped slightly from 9.4 percent of the global market in the first quarter to 9.2 percent in the second, but the company narrowly maintained its third-place ranking, just above South Korea’s LG Electronics Inc, with 9.1 percent. Nokia Corp is the largest maker of cellphones, followed by Samsung Electronics Co.
Chief executive Greg Brown said Motorola expected to sell slightly fewer cellphones in the current quarter, then see sales rise again in the fourth quarter. The company is putting out 50 new phone models this year, compared with about 40 last year. It is also aiming to strengthen its presence in the “smart” phone market, which has grown strongly in the last year, with more phones that have touch screens or full-alphabet keyboards.
In his National Day Rally speech on Sunday, Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) quoted the Taiwanese song One Small Umbrella (一支小雨傘) to describe his nation’s situation. Wong’s use of such a song shows Singapore’s familiarity with Taiwan’s culture and is a perfect reflection of exchanges between the two nations, Representative to Singapore Tung Chen-yuan (童振源) said yesterday in a post on Facebook. Wong quoted the song, saying: “As the rain gets heavier, I will take care of you, and you,” in Mandarin, using it as a metaphor for Singaporeans coming together to face challenges. Other Singaporean politicians have also used Taiwanese songs
NORTHERN STRIKE: Taiwanese military personnel have been training ‘in strategic and tactical battle operations’ in Michigan, a former US diplomat said More than 500 Taiwanese troops participated in this year’s Northern Strike military exercise held at Lake Michigan by the US, a Pentagon-run news outlet reported yesterday. The Michigan National Guard-sponsored drill involved 7,500 military personnel from 36 nations and territories around the world, the Stars and Stripes said. This year’s edition of Northern Strike, which concluded on Sunday, simulated a war in the Indo-Pacific region in a departure from its traditional European focus, it said. The change indicated a greater shift in the US armed forces’ attention to a potential conflict in Asia, it added. Citing a briefing by a Michigan National Guard senior
CHIPMAKING INVESTMENT: J.W. Kuo told legislators that Department of Investment Review approval would be needed were Washington to seek a TSMC board seat Minister of Economic Affairs J.W. Kuo (郭智輝) yesterday said he received information about a possible US government investment in Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) and an assessment of the possible effect on the firm requires further discussion. If the US were to invest in TSMC, the plan would need to be reviewed by the Department of Investment Review, Kuo told reporters ahead of a hearing of the legislature’s Economics Committee. Kuo’s remarks came after US Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick on Tuesday said that the US government is looking into the federal government taking equity stakes in computer chip manufacturers that
CLAMPING DOWN: At the preliminary stage on Jan. 1 next year, only core personnel of the military, the civil service and public schools would be subject to inspections Regular checks are to be conducted from next year to clamp down on military personnel, civil servants and public-school teachers with Chinese citizenship or Chinese household registration, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. Article 9-1 of the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例) stipulates that Taiwanese who obtain Chinese household registration or a Chinese passport would be deprived of their Taiwanese citizenship and lose their right to work in the military, public service or public schools, it said. To identify and prevent the illegal employment of holders of Chinese ID cards or