Motorola Mobility increased smartphone sales to narrow its third-quarter loss, proving it's still in the mobile game as it waits for finalization of its sale to Google.
Motorola's sales of Atrix, Droid 3 and other smartphones increased more than nine percent in the third quarter, giving the company a boost as it waits for Google to purchase it at $12.5 billion. The search leader's acquisition of Motorola is undergoing review by the U.S. Justice Department and is scheduled for a shareholder vote in mid-November, but is expected to close early next year.
The pending deal has raised concerns about competition among other handset makers using Google's Android OS to power their top-selling smartphones. HTC, which forged its reputation building Android phones, recently shifted some focus to Windows models, releasing its first two Mango smartphones last month. Samsung, which also profited greatly from Android devices, is reportedly ramping up development on its own smartphone platform, Bada OS.
HTC and Samsung initially welcomed the acquisition, reasoning it may protect Android against patent-infringement lawsuits and strengthen the platform's competitive power against Apple's iOS. But recent efforts to diversify smartphone offerings indicate HTC and others also plan to be well-armed against Motorola in case it gains an advantage upon becoming part of Google.
Google chairman Eric Schmidt has assured Motorola's competitors it won't do anything to "screw up the dynamics" of the cell phone industry, saying the company will use the enhanced patent portfolio it gains through the acquisition to preserve the Android ecosystem.
For its part, Motorola weathered some rough patches this year. The company's entry into the iPad-dominated tablet market with the Xoom was not successful and it posted a quarterly loss of $32 million from its tablet push.
The company lately put itself back in the news by unveiling several smartphones. Motorola's Droid Bionic hit the market last month after long delays, and a new version of its popular Razr, called the Spyder, is expected to be out in time for holiday shopping, indicating last quarter's bump in smartphone sales may be just the beginning of a turnaround for Motorola.
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