Motorola has fallen short of analysts' reduced estimates in its first quarter, posting its first operating loss in more than 15 years.
In the quarter, it posted a loss of US$206 million on sales of US$7.8 billion.
The maker of semiconductors and wireless telephone handsets twice lowered sales and earnings estimates in the quarter, but still was unable to hit the revised targets.
So far this year, Motorola has announced plans to lay off roughly 14,000 employees across all its business units in effort to cut costs and streamline its operating efficiency.
Viewed as something of a bellwether for the technology industry because of its early reporting date, Motorola's performance in the first quarter shows just how dramatic the decline in information technology spending was during the first three months of 2001.
ââ,¬Â¢ Motorola's semiconductor sales fell 22 percent from the year-ago quarter to US$1.5 billion.
ââ,¬Â¢ Personal communications sales dropped 29 percent.
ââ,¬Â¢ Global telecommunications equipment sales fell 5 percent to US$1.7 billion. Operating income from this segment slumped to US$54 million from US$281 million.
ââ,¬Â¢ Commercial, government and industrial systems sales were a bit better as sales improved 5 percent to US$1.1 billion.
ââ,¬Â¢ Broadband communications sales shot up 21 percent to US$818 million.
Motorola executives said orders were down "very significantly" in the Americas and Europe, down "significantly" in Asia-Pacific region and up "slightly" in Japan.
Looking ahead, Chief Executive Officer Christopher Galvin could offer only a vague outlook in the prepared release.
"We see a continuing downturn in the US economy beginning to spill over to the rest of the world," he said in the release. "The high-tech sector, which has been hard hit, is already in a recession. These issues, plus interest rate policy or energy prices, cannot be controlled by Motorola."
