Motorola Mobility reports wider Q1 loss, device sales slip

Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc. posted a wider first-quarter loss after selling fewer mobile devices in this year's first three months.

Motorola Mobility, which is awaiting approval to be bought by Google Inc. for $12.5 billion, reported 8.9 million total sales of its smartphones, feature phones and tablet computers. However, it boosted its smartphone sales by 24% to 5.1 million, helping it raise net mobile device revenue by 3.1%.

Motorola Mobility said its plan to be sold to Google is stalled for now in China. The deal has been cleared in the U.S. and Europe, Motorola Mobility said, adding that it still expected to close the transaction within the next two months.

Motorola Mobility reported a first-quarter loss of $86 million, or 28 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $81 million, or 27 cents a share. Excluding merger-related costs, amortization and stock-based compensation, the loss narrowed to 3 cents a share from a year-earlier loss of 8 cents a share.

Sales in Motorola Mobility's set-top business declined 2.2% to $884 million and the unit had an operating profit of $68 million. The Libertyville, Ill.-based company said its mobile-device division had a wider operating loss of $121 million.

Motorola Mobility's portfolio has helped the company win two favorable preliminary decisions in recent months from the U.S. International Trade Commission, which ruled against separate patent challenges from Apple Inc. and Microsoft Corp. over some of its smartphone features.

In February, Immersion Corp. filed complaints with the ITC alleging that some of Motorola Mobility's smartphones based on Google's Android software infringed patents related to Immersion Corp.'s touch-screen technology.
 

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