Motorola claimed 19 per cent of the worldwide market for mobile phones, its highest share for some years in a booming third quarter.

The company reported record earnings of $9.42bn, up from $7.5bn in Q3 2004, and net earnings up almost fourfold to $1.75bn from a year ago.

Tumescent mobile sales accounted for most of the growth. The phone division grossed $5.6bn, up 41 per cent from last year, and made up almost 60 per cent of Moto's entire business. The company shifted over 38m mobile devices in the period, gaining a percentage point of share quarter-on-quarter.

The strategy of misspelled brand names that's been so successful with the Razr phone, and less so with the Rokr, looks set to continue. Motorola will unleash the Pebl and the Slvr this autumn.

Motorola's CEO Ed Zndr, said it was a ringing endorsement of Motorola's "seamless mobility", a tagline appropriate for a catsuit manufacturer.

Networks grew 7 per cent year on year grossing $1.56bn, and solutions 4 per cent to $1.62bn. The smallest division, home consumer electronics, grew by 28 per cent, earning Motorola $710m.

Motorola has been buying back shares and writing off debts, and finished the quarter with $8.4bn cash in the warchest. ®

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