Motorola posts Q3 Profit, first since 2000

The cellular telephone division of Motorola Inc. has announced a $111 million profit for Q3; after six consecutive quarters of losing money, Motorola reported that it has turned its first quarterly net gain since 2000. Motorola's two largest businesses, cellular telephones and semiconductors, posted operating profits of $241 million and $13 million, respectively. Its third largest division, which makes wireless networking equipment, lost $22 million, not surprising in the current troubled telecommunications industry. Motorola's semiconductor sales for the quarter climbed 13%, to $1.2 billion. According to Mike Zafirovski, Motorola's president and chief operating officer, issued the following statement, "Our improvement in profitability in the third quarter is a solid indication that our focus on customers, coupled with the aggressive and timely restructuring of the company that began two years ago, is bearing results in a difficult economic environment. Motorola continues to make steady progress on improving its profitability.'' Motorola has had extensive restructuring and layoffs since 2000, replacing almost 70% of its senior leadership and reducing its work force from 150,000 employees to the eventual number of 93,000 forecast by 2003.