MOTASTROPHE!

Q4 earnings released today indicate that the once mighty handset division of Motorola (MOT) continues its sad and spectacular free fall.

· Sales plummet 51%
· Marketshare is down to 6.5% (from 12.4% a year ago)
· Q4 Operating Loss of $595 mil
· Moody's cut Motorola's debt rating to Baa3 - the lowest investment grade level
· Dividend suspended

...but the analysts quotes sum it up best of all:

“They better hurry and fix mobile devices or it will become irrelevant” Mark Sue (RBC Capital Markets)

"...their luxury line-up is a hot mess” and "gruesome" Tero Kuittinen (Global Crown Capital)

“I feel their position in handsets is awful and will get worse” Simona Jankowitz (Goldman Sachs)

“Their handsets right now are stagnant, and there’s no sign of a new product cycle coming until maybe the end of the year” Samuel Wilson (JMP Securities LLC)