Motorola have proved that painting old phones new colours is an extremely lucrative business, with record quarterly sales of $10.88 billion, with $7.14 billion of that coming from mobile devices. Motorola have shipped 51.9 million handsets in those short three months, and have expanded global market to share to 22 percent (up 4.3 percent from last year).

Samsung, whose market share has been falling recently despite their technologically-advanced handsets, must be gnashing their teeth in frustration, and who can blame them? What would you rather have: a 10 megapixel Samsung cameraphone, or a 1.3 megapixel RAZR painted pink? The RAZR, it would seem! Crazy world we live in.

From the Press release:

“Motorola continues to deliver excellent quarterly sales and earnings growth. With our solid financial performance and unrelenting focus on innovation and customer satisfaction, Motorola is among the fastest growing large-cap technology companies in the world,” said Ed Zander, chairman and CEO. “In the second quarter, all of our businesses improved sales and grew profits sequentially versus the first quarter. Mobile Devices led the way, setting records for unit shipments, sales and profits. With our strong balance sheet, leading technologies and proven record of growth, Motorola is well-positioned to continue creating value for its shareholders.”

Operating Results

Mobile Devices Segment sales were $7.14 billion, up 46 percent compared with the year-ago quarter. Operating earnings increased to $799 million, compared with operating earnings of $493 million in the year-ago quarter. The company also captured headlines by launching the highly anticipated MOTO Q, which is transforming consumer expectations and experiences for QWERTY devices. During the quarter, Mobile Devices also:

• Shipped 51.9 million handsets, up 53 percent compared to the second quarter of 2005 -- and up 12.4 percent compared to 46.1 million handsets shipped during the first quarter of 2006.
• Expanded global market share to an estimated 22 percent, up 4.3 percentage points from a year ago and up 1.3 percentage points from the first quarter of 2006.
• Increased brand strength and market share leadership in both North America and Latin America; remained the solid No. 2 with growing brand momentum in Western Europe, North Asia and the high-growth markets (Middle East, Africa, India and Southeast Asia); and expanded market share to greater than 20 percent in China, up 8.9 percentage points from the second quarter of 2005.
• Launched 11 new handsets: 5 for GSM networks, 4 for CDMA and 2 for iDEN. Notably, shipments for iDEN handsets posted a record second-quarter performance.
• Since the third quarter of 2005, we have shipped nearly 10 million music handsets and launched the MOTO (RED) SLVR, joining with Bono and Project Red to fight AIDS and poverty in Africa.