In a recent article covering Motorola's earnings, Forbes noted that Apple has surpassed the handset-maker to become the top US phone manufacturer. Motorola's unit shipments have slipped to 8.5 million phones in the first quarter of this year, compared to Apple's 8.75 million iPhones.
While 8.5 million units is nothing to sneeze at, it's a far cry from the 46.1 million Motorola enjoyed only four years ago, when the Razr was still popular. Even as recent as a year ago, the company sold 14.7 million phones in the fourth quarter. Despite that plummet, Motorola's phone revenue only dropped 9% in the latest period.
In fact, the company has posted better-than-forecasted earnings for the recently passed quarter, and sales of its new Droid handset beat the company's own predictions. Motorola sold 2.3 million smartphones in the first three months of the year, and it expected to sell less than 2 million.