Facing a financial storm, Motorola plans to focus its smartphone efforts on Google's Android, and put Windows Mobile on the back burner until 2010. The beleaguered cellphone manufacturer will postpone Windows Mobile development until version 7 is released next year, said Motorola in today's conference call.Motorola has posted a massive fourth-quarter loss, suspended investor dividends to investors, and announced the departure of chief financial officer Paul Liska. Citing sales of $7.1 billion during the fourth quarter of 2008, the company said it lost nearly $3.6 billion -- a glaring contrast to the $100 million profit posted in Q4 2007. In further bad news, executives said the losses were "primarily attributable to lower sales of mobile devices." According to the company, it shipped 19.2 million handsets during the quarter -- fewer than half of the 40.9 million units shipped in Q4 2007 -- and market share plummeted to just 6.5 percent. In a glimmer of good news, the company's Enterprise Mobility Solutions division continues to perform well, with sales of $2.2 billion in Q4 2008, up four percent compared with the year-ago quarter, according to Motorola. Earnings were said to be up to $466 million, compared to $451 million in Q4 2007. Sanjay Jha (right), CEO of Motorola's Mobile Devices division, told investors the company is on target to release next-generation devices during the fourth quarter of 2009. "We continue to take appropriate action to address the downturn in the global economy as well as the challenges related to our current mobile devices portfolio. We are aggressively developing innovative new products." In a Q&A following Motorola's earnings announcements, Jha said, "we remain committed to Windows Mobile." But, he added, "more of our effort and focus in 2009 is going to Android. In 2010, when Windows Mobile 7 becomes available, we will then participate in a more focused way."( www.linuxdevices.com )
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