Will Gabrielski submits: Motorola blew yet another quarter Thursday night, proving that secular growth in wireless is not a guarantee of strong results for all handset makers. The company cited its handset business for the reduction in fourth quarter guidance, and I believe Ed Zander will continue to struggle with results amidst slowing handset growth, ASP erosion, new market entrants that compete well against the tired RAZR, and integration risk following a spate of mid and large sized acquisitions. Motorola’s problems began in the June quarter, in my opinion. I wrote a very bearish article for my previous employer ahead of the company’s second quarter earnings report. Most analysts were forecasting cumulative RAZR shipments to eclipse the 50 million mark in the quarter, but Motorola didn’t report its 50 millionth RAZR shipment until after the quarter ended.

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The Motorola Q Black is the same Q that Verizon Wireless started shipping back in May, but with a sleek new black exterior. Motorola hasn’t yet expanded the Q to other network technologies like it was first expected, but rumor has it that Sprint’s version (it should also be black) is sitting in the pipeline ready to launch. Features of the Motorola Q include: Windows Mobile 5.0 64MB end-user memory plus miniSD card slot EV-DO high-speed data Bluetooth with A2DP support QVGA display with 65k colors 1.3 megapixel camera Just 11.5mm thick Verizon Wireless is selling the Motorola Q Black for $ 199.99 after a new two-year contract and $ 50 mail-in rebate. That’s currently the same price as the original silver edition. It’s also an online exclusive until mid-January.

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