Motorola, the world's second-biggest maker of mobile phones, has posted its fifth consecutive quarterly loss.

The firm lost $174m (�121m) in the first three months of the year, something of an improvement on the $211m it lost in the same period of 2001.

Far less positive, however, was the news that its revenues had fallen 20% year on year, to $6bn.

Motorola has gained market share in recent years, mainly at the expense of Swedish Ericsson.

But it has been hit hard by the slowdown in the telecoms market, and in particular the unwillingness of consumers to switch phones as often as predicted.

Upturn promised

The firm was cautiously defensive about its apparently poor performance.

"We are making solid progress in repositioning Motorola to return to profitability in the second half of this year as our end markets recover," said Edward Breen, president and chief operating officer.

Mr Breen said that the company's renewed focus on balance sheet management, including deep cost and job cuts, was yielding "solid results".

"These are challenging and turbulent markets worldwide and economic and political volatility makes predictions uncertain," said chairman and chief executive Christopher Galvin.

"Still, we continue to believe Motorola will return to profitability during the second half of 2002 and be profitable for the full year."

Most analysts expect the firm to reach break-even in its full-year results.

Mobile malaise

Motorola's results came at the end of a day marked by bullish corporate announcements and surging share values.

Arriving after the close of trading, the figures had no impact on a 207-point Dow Jones index rally, but may weigh on investors going into Wednesday.

Mobile manufacturers have suffered particularly sharply in recent years, since demand for hardware has fallen hugely short of the heady predictions of the late 1990s.

Increasing competition within the industry has driven down the cost of mobiles, and consumers have proved reluctant to upgrade handsets in order to benefit from new technologies.