Financial Times, Wall Street Journal

DROID SALES DRIVE MOTOROLA
Motorola posted a huge increase in Q2 earnings at USD162 million, or seven cents a share, up from a year-earlier profit of USD26 million, or one cent a share. Revenue fell slightly to USD5.41 billion. Sales at its mobile business were down six percent to USD1.7 billion. But, buoyed by its popular Droid X smartphone, the mobile division reported 2.7 million handsets sold in the second quarter, up from 2.3 million in the first quarter, and operating profit reached USD87 million. CEO Sanjay Jha said about half of Motorola's smartphone sales go to Verizon Wireless, the exclusive operator for the Droid lineup. He expects a return to sales growth for the mobile unit in the third quarter, the first time in nearly four years, with profitability in the fourth quarter, writes WSJ. Mr. Jha told FT that he was “confident” his company was in a position to compete with Apple’s iPhone if it becomes available with other operators.