Motorola has made a Q1 loss - its first in 15 years.

Excluding charges the loss was $206 million compared with $481 million a year earlier. Sales fell 11 per cent to $7.75 billion.

Semiconductor sales fell by 22 per cent to $1.5 billion, and orders slumped by 47 per cent to $1.1 billion. The chip businesses operating loss was $131 million, compared with a profit of $128 million in the same period a year earlier.

Motorola's broadband communications business, which includes cable modems and digital cable TV set-top boxes, enjoyed faster sales growth than any other bit of the business. Sales jumped 21 per cent to $818 million, orders increased three per cent to $905 million, and operating profit climbed from $99 million to $130 million. ®