Last week, Samsung and HTC released their 2011 fourth quarter earnings.  Samsung did well but HTC fell short of expectations.  And it looks like  HTC isn’t the only suffering from low revenue as Motorola Mobility’s preliminary report stated that the company didn’t have a spectacular Q4 either.

Ahead of their upcoming earnings call, Motorola reported that sales were around $3.4 billion, wherein $900 million was from sales for their home business section, and the company shipped approximately 10.5 million mobile devices.  Of the 10.5 million mobile devices, 5.3 million were smartphones, higher than the 4.8 million shipped during the third quarter.  Analysts were expecting at least $3.88 billion in sales revenue.

Several factors account for their low revenue, one of which is growing competition. Aside from Apple products, a lot of Android ODMs like Samsung and HTC have greater market share compared to Motorola.  But if the Google acquisition goes through, this could be a major game changer for Motorola.  Google announced the acquisition back in August of last year but it wasn’t until November the MoMo shareholders approved the deal.  But there’s still one important entity that can make the deal crumble to the ground – the US Department of Justice.

Turning Things Around

Last week, ahead of the 2012 International CES, Motorola teased consumers with their Unplugged ad, which points to more wireless devices for home networks.  Motorola already announced the Motorola 4Home Connected Gateway, which enables users to control home security and energy from devices such as smartphones, tablets and PCs at home or remotely.  Two new smartphones were also unveiled: the Motoluxe and the Defy Mini.  The Motoluxe is a slim touchscreen device that features a 4-inch touchscreen display, an 8 megapixel camera with flash and a front-facing VGA camera, a 1400 mAh battery that claims to offer up to 6.5 hours of talk time, 19 days of standby time.  While the Defy Mini is said to be dustproof and water-resistant that features a 3.2-inch touchscreen display with a scratch resistant Corning Gorilla Glass, a 3 megapixel rear and a front facing VGA camera, a 1650 mAh battery claiming to give up to 10 hours of talk time and 21 days of standby time.  Both devices run on Android 2.3 or Gingerbread.

And to prove that they are serious about home network solutions, Motorola joined the HomeGrid Forum, a global, non-profit trade group promoting the International Telecommunication Union’s G.hn and G.hnem standardization efforts for next-generation home networking and SmartGrid Applications.

“Our membership is growing in numbers and also in stature,” said HomeGrid Forum President Matthew Theall. “Motorola is one of many major equipment manufacturers and global players to recognize the potential of G.hn for its customers and we are delighted that they have chosen to step in at this critical point as Certification is being finalized along with silicon ready for deployments.”

Larry Robinson, Corporate Vice President and General Manager, Home Devices, Motorola Mobility, said: “Our aim is to provide a comprehensive range of technologies and to offer the best networking in the home that is available today. G.hn has enormous potential and is moving fast towards Certification, so it makes sense for us to join the organization that will drive this standard forward and the technology’s success in the market. We look forward to working with our colleagues in the HomeGrid Forum to create a powerful offering for our customers with a range of consumer devices that make best use of G.hn technology.”