SCHAUMBURG, Ill.-Motorola Inc. announced record sales and earnings for the third quarter, although its general systems sector reported moderate growth in the cellular subscriber base in the United States.
Motorola said third-quarter sales increased 21 percent to $6.9 billion. Net income rose 31 percent to 81 cents per share, increasing from 65 cents in the third quarter of last year. Third-quarter earnings totaled $496 million, a $116 million increase from 1994.
Motorola’s moderate growth rate in the cellular subscriber base is attributed to the decline in average selling prices for cellular phones in the United States, Motorola said. Order growth in that sector was 14 percent, compared with last year’s 61 percent.
“We are seeing the strongest economic growth in the Asia-Pacific region, in emerging markets and then Europe, where demand for wireless communications and semiconductors remains strong,” said Gary Tooker, Motorola’s vice president and chief executive officer. “In the United States, we expect to continue to experience the effects of slower economic expansion in selected businesses, over the near term.”
Sales in the messaging, information and media sector rose 22 percent to $944 million and orders increased 35 percent in the third quarter.
“An unprecedented number of major transitions to new technologies are concurrently underway in our equipment business,” Tooker said.
