Motorola calls drop in handset shipments

Motorola on Wednesday cut its forecast for handset shipments in the global mobile phone industry this year to 400 million units from 420 million, flat with 2001 levels. The company on Tuesday recorded its biggest net loss in company history for the second quarter, but posted a profit before restructuring charges a quarter ahead of expectations. Handsets, Motorola's largest unit, generated second-quarter sales of $2.6 billion. Nevertheless, Motorola executives see the company garnering a larger share of the global handset market this year, up from 17 percent last year. It held 18 percent of the market in the second quarter.

The company also said it expects sales in the global wireless network equipment industry to be down 18 percent in 2002 and industry sales to be flat in 2003.

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