InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

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MOTOROLA having camera phone woes.

Motorola Falls on Cell-Phone Worries

By TSC Staff
09/26/2003 08:47 AM EDT


Motorola (MOT:NYSE - commentary - research) was shaping up as a battleground stock Friday after J.P. Morgan made positive comments about its prospects for realignment while a news story suggested it could face a lean Christmas.

The bears had the upper hand early with the stock down 43 cents, or 3.4%, to $12.10 in premarket trading.


The Wall Street Journal reported Friday that delays in the production of cell-phones equipped with digital cameras could mean Motorola won't have the product in time for the holiday buying season. The company is already far behind rivals like Nokia (NOK:NYSE - commentary - research) and Samsung, the newspaper noted, and won't have any such phones to sell to Verizon Wireless, the Verizon (VZ:NYSE - commentary - research) and Vodafone (VOD:NYSE - commentary - research) venture.

The company also probably won't have a camera phone for AT&T Wireless (AWE:NYSE - commentary - research) in time for Christmas, the Journal reported.

Meanwhile, J.P. Morgan said in a research note that new management should be able to squeeze 21 cents a share worth of accretion out of a business realignment in which it sells its wireless and cable infrastructure segments and half its semiconductor business.

The brokerage raised the stock from overweight to neutral.

Several analysts have raised their rating on the stock after Chief Executive Chris Galvin said Friday he would be stepping down. Galvin was viewed as an obstacle to restructuring and J.P. Morgan expects new management to be more open to change.