Today, Motorola reported that its mobile device business posted an operating profit for the first time in three years. It may seem like ages ago, but the Razr was the hot phone for Motorola the last time it posted an operating profit. The company had not expected this unit to turn a profit until 2011.The company, which announced third quarter earnings, also posted better than expected sales of its Google Android-powered smartphones.
The mobile phone unit generated $3 million in operating profit during the third quarter. This was up from an operating loss of $183 million during the same period a year ago. Motorola's total profit was also up for the company to $109 million, or %.05 per share. This compares to $12 million, or $.01 per share, during the third quarter last year.
Revenue was up 6% to $5.8 billion compared to $5.4 billion last year. Motorola plans to split itself into two companies later this year. And it has been selling off business units in preparation. The third quarter included $871 million of sales from the network equipment unit which Motorola is selling.
Motorola topped analyst expectations during the quarter in terms of unit shipments. During the quarter it shipped 9.1 million phones, including 3.8 million smartphones. Analysts expected the company to ship about 3.57 million smartphones, according to Reuters.
