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Final Transcript
Conference Call Transcript
MOT Q1 2007 Motorola Inc. Earnings Conference Call
Event Date/Time: Apr. 18, 2007 / 8:00AM ET |
CORPORATE PARTICIPANTS
Dean Lindroth
Motorola Inc. VP, IR
Ed Zander
Motorola Inc. Chairman & CEO
Tom Meredith
Motorola Inc. CFO
Greg Brown
Motorola Inc. President & COO
CONFERENCE CALL PARTICIPANTS
Scott Coleman
Morgan Stanley Analyst
Phil Cusick
Bear Stearns Analyst
Tal Liani
Merrill Lynch Analyst
Mike Ounjian
Credit Suisse Analyst
Jeff Kvaal
Lehman Brothers Analyst
Maynard Um
UBS Analyst
Todd Koffman
Raymond James Analyst
Mark Sue
RBC Capital Markets Analyst
Ehud Gelblum
JPMorgan Analyst
Brandt Thompson
Goldman Sachs Analyst
Edward Snyder
Charter Equity Group Analyst
Tim Long
Bank of America Analyst
Brian Modoff
Deutsche Bank Analyst
PRESENTATION
Operator
Good morning and thank you for holding. (OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS). Todays call is being
recorded. If you have any objections, please disconnect at this time. I would now like to introduce
Mr. Dean Lindroth, Corporate Vice President of Investor Relations. Mr. Lindroth, you may begin your
conference.
Dean Lindroth - Motorola Inc. VP, IR
Thank you and good morning. With me today are Ed Zander, Chairman and CEO; Greg Brown,
President and Chief Operating Officer, and Tom Meredith, Chief Financial Officer.
A number of forward-looking statements will be made during this presentation. Forward-looking
statements are any statements that are not historical facts. These forward-looking statements are
based on the current expectations of Motorola, and there can be no assurance that such expectations
will prove to be correct. Because forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties,
Motorolas actual results could differ materially from these statements. Information about factors
that could cause and in some cases have caused such differences can be found on pages 16 through 24
in Item 1A of Motorolas 2006 Annual Report on Form 10-K and in Motorolas other SEC filings.
This presentation is being made on the morning of April 18, 2007. The content of this presentation
contains time-sensitive information that is accurate only as of the time hereof. If any portion of
this presentation is rebroadcast, retransmitted or redistributed at a later date, Motorola will not
be reviewing or updating the material that is contained herein. A replay of this webcast, including
questions and answers, will be available later on our website.
With that, I would now like to turn the call over to Ed.
Ed Zander - Motorola Inc. Chairman & CEO
Thanks, Dean, and good morning, everyone. As Dean said, with me today are Greg Brown, our
President and Chief Operating Officer, and Tom Meredith, our Chief Financial Officer.
Were
here to review our Q1 results and provide perspectives on Q2 and the year. As you will hear
today, the three of us, along with the extended management team, are establishing a framework for
this Company around innovation, operational discipline and execution. We believe we must get it
right in all three areas to maintain the kind of performance we have shown in the past.
As far as Q1 goes, our performance was in line with our revised guidance given in March. We
slightly exceeded our revised revenue targets and came in at the higher end of our revised EPS
guidance range, excluding highlighted items. It is very important that we as a management team
return Motorola to doing what we said we will do, which has been the case for most of the past
three years.
As I said a few weeks ago, the performance at our mobile device business in the first quarter was
unacceptable, and we are committed to restoring it to profitability and positive cash flow. This is
a great business with a substantially growing market that requires a high degree of R&D investment,
supply chain excellence, a cost structure that requires maniacal focus and flawless execution. We
know how to do this and have done it for almost three years.
It can also be punishing if you get out of cycle in any one of these areas, which is the case for
this division right now. Were taking steps for improvements this year and fully expect to improve
profitability and revenue growth and positive cash flow. Greg will give you the specifics, but
there are six priorities in mobile devices on which were working.
One, were accelerating the implementation of our new Linux/Java software platform and multisource
silicon chip set designs. We started shipping Linux/Java products this quarter. We expect more in
the second half of 2007 and lots more in 2008. And 3G products are expected in 2008 with a newer
lower-cost silicon-based architecture.
Second, more 3G products. We announced new ones during the quarter. We introduced the KRZR K-3 over
in Europe; 3G Qs, which will start shipping shortly; the new Z8 slider and others. There is more to
come this quarter and certainly in the second half of this year. It does take time to launch
worldwide with operator branded devices, but we will get this done.
Turning to
low-tier, we are announcing new low tier cost-effective products like our new W-series
and are putting in place new low-cost designs for this market. As I said earlier in March, we are
also picking our growth geographies, markets and segments more carefully than before, and Greg will
talk more about that in a few minutes.
Fourth,
cost reductions in MDB are underway and there is more to do with mobile devices. Tom will provide
more details on that.
Five,
were rationalizing our distribution and indirect channels with our direct channel. We need to
reduce conflict and channel overlap and provide a more stable basis for monitoring pricing
structure in the market. We made some good progress in the quarter. We need every product in every
price tier in every geography to make money.
And last, we are moving aggressively to simplify the business through common software platforms,
reducing the number of products, driving customer managed inventory
processes and going back to
simplified unified marketing messages worldwide. Bottom-line we remained committed to growing
market share profitably in our mobile device business.
The new management team there gets it, and its all about sustained profitability.
Before I turn it over to Tom, I would like to say a few words about a number of things that went
well during the quarter. Connected Home had a terrific quarter with revenue up 32% year-over-year.
They continue to outperform their competition in terms of sales growth and are leaders in cable and
wireline video technology. Connected Home shipped its one-millionth IPTV set-top box during Q1.
Networks & Enterprise also had a good quarter, growing 20% year-over-year with strong results in
the public safety and enterprise mobility segments. We are now recognized as one of the leaders, if
not the leader, in broadband wireless, including WiMAX end-to-end technologies.
We also completed four very important acquisitions Good, Symbol, Netopia and Tut Systems, all
with great people and great intellectual property.
Our patent portfolio, which is a good indicator of the Companys intellectual assets, continues to
improve. During 2006 Motorola filed over 1500 patent applications and was awarded over 650 patents.
In addition, the companies that Motorola recently acquired own about
1,500 granted patents. This is
a very important benchmark and underscores how important our strong balance sheet is to our future.
And this
quarter we continued our ongoing efforts to return capital to
shareholders. We accelerated $2 billion of our share repurchase program. In less than two years, we have repurchased approximately
$7.1 billion of our common stock within our total authorization
of $11.5 billion.
We have also strengthened our management team. Tom as CFO and Greg as CEO are important additions
to my organization. And together we have upgraded our talent in marketing, sales and product
development in mobile devices.
In summary, there is much to do, especially in Mobile Devices, but were committed to getting it
done. We have great people, a powerful brand, strong intellectual property, a good balance sheet
and a great strategy around seamless mobility. Were number one in public safety, number one in
enterprise mobility, number one in wireline and cable video, number one in emerging broadband,
wireless and WiMAX and number two in Mobile Devices. Over time there is no reason why we cannot
return to historical levels of double-digit OE company-wide. We will maintain a strong framework
around innovation, operational discipline and execution.
Now here is Tom to take you through the financials.
Tom Meredith - Motorola Inc. CFO
Thanks, Ed. We understand the issues at hand, and we will be addressing them head on. So lets
start with the quarterly results and then our plan to improve cash flow and profitability, and then
we will move to our outlook for the second quarter and the full year.
In the first quarter, revenue was $9.4 billion, and on a GAAP basis, we had a net loss from
continuing operations of $0.09 per share, including charges of $0.11 per share of highlighted
items. Excluding these items, our Q1 earnings from continuing operations were $0.02 per share. As a
reminder, stock compensation expense is included in both the current and prior year EPS results and
is no longer a highlighted item.
Just to touch on the items called out in the press release, which totaled $0.11, first I would call
your attention to the acquisition-related charges and in-process R&D expenses which totaled $0.06
per share. Second was a charge of approximately $0.03 per share related to the Telsim securities
case settlement, which was a case that having been settled relieves the Corporation of a major
liability. And finally was a business reorganization charge of approximately $0.02 per share
related to the previously announced workforce reduction.
Operating cash flow was impacted by profitability, and our cash conversion cycle was at 55 days. We
do intend to drive significant improvements in these areas going forward. We ended the quarter with
net cash of approximately $4.6 billion. The decrease in our net cash from year-end is primarily due
to approximately $4.1 billion in acquisitions and approximately $2.4 billion of cash used to
repurchase shares.
With respect to our stock repurchase program, in the first quarter, we increased the current
program by $3 billion to a total of $7.5 billion. We accelerated the repurchase, as Ed said, of $2
billion of stock during the quarter. In total, we purchased 121 million shares, and we now have
retired 334 million shares. Approximately $7.1 billion of
our $11.5 billion in authorizations has
been completed. The increase we announced in March reflects our assessment of current and future
cash flows, the dynamics of our industry and input from our shareholders. We believe we have the
right buyback program in place. It makes sense for our Company at this time.
Most importantly, we also believe we have the right process in place to continuously review and
make decisions upon our capital structure to ensure the long-term success of the Company and
appropriate returns of capital to our shareholders.
Now lets talk about our plans to make significant enhancements to our cash flow and profitability.
It starts with our cost savings initiative. In January we announced a $400 million savings program,
which included a 3,500 person headcount reduction, realization of cost synergies from our
acquisitions and site rationalizations. The charges for the reduction in force will be completed by
the end of the second quarter. We expect to have 18% fewer sites by the end of the year versus what
we have today, and lastly, we are starting to realize cost savings from our acquisitions.
It is important to note that Ed, Greg and I are determined to reduce costs. We know what we have
announced is not enough. We plan to give you an update by June 1 regarding these additional
actions. I want to be very clear these actions will be all about improving our cash flow from
operations and profitability. At the same time, rest assured we will prioritize investments for
sustainable growth. So stay tuned.
Moving onto guidance, our second-quarter outlook for sales is essentially flat with the first
quarter. Just to provide a little more color on our segments, I want to reiterate what we said in
March. And that is, in the second quarter, it will be another difficult quarter for Mobile Devices.
I want to add, though, that we expect the operating loss to narrow a bit. In N&E were forecasting
revenue to be up slightly compared to the first quarter. In Connected Home were expecting to have
another strong quarter with revenue approximately flat with our first quarter. Earnings per share
are expected to be in the range of $0.02 to $0.03 per share. This outlook excludes any
reorganization of business charges associated with our operating expense reduction initiatives, as
well as any items of the variety called out in our quarterly earnings release.
For the full year, we expect to see gradual quarterly improvements in both sales and operating
margin in the second half. We expect to be profitable and to generate positive operating cash flow.
In Mobile Devices we expect a gradual recovery in the second half and to be profitable for the full
year.
For
Networks & Enterprise, we expect mid-teen annual sales growth and double-digit operating
margins. For Connected Home we expect sales to exceed market growth and operating margins to
increase compared to the full-year 2006. In this regard, for the full year, there are no changes to
the projections we gave you in January for stock compensation expense, amortization of intangibles,
depreciation or effective tax rate. Interest income is now expected to be approximately $80
million. We still plan to refinance current maturities of our long-term debt later in the year.
Now Greg will take you through the Company operations.
Greg Brown - Motorola Inc. President & COO
Thanks, Tom. So, as Ed and Tom have discussed and we have said consistently, no doubt Q1 was
challenging for Mobile Devices. To help get the business back on track, we announced a number of
changes to the management team during the quarter. In particular, for several weeks now we have had
Ray Roman and Terry Vega serving as leaders of Mobile Devices. Ed, Tom and I are working very
closely with the new leadership team. And on that point, I want to be very clear. We have changed
the management team, we have changed the tactical direction, and we are instilling a culture of
accountability. We are working to redirect the business and deliver steady improvements. As we take
a closer look at the segments results for Q1, I will take you through the numbers, and then I will
share some of the actions were taking to return Mobile Devices
to the profitable growth that you
have come to expect.
So lets begin with Mobile Devices. And I want to point out that these results are consistent with
the advisory that we issued on March 21. These numbers reflect our decision to adopt a more
disciplined approach to pricing and stop chasing market share for the sake of market share. As a
result, we have stabilized ASP performance, which was essentially flat sequentially. We had strong
results in North America and Latin America,
and we did expand the product portfolio with new and compelling products. So it is important that I
reflect on the products because I think it is critical we maintain Motorolas edge on design and
product introduction.
So it is in that context that we began shipping eight new devices during the quarter three
mass-market devices and one mid-tier device for GSM, three new CDMA designs and one new addition
for UMTS. For GSM we expanded our W-series of value-priced feature-rich devices with the global
launch of the W370, W205, W215 for the mass-market, and we added the W510 for the mid-tier. These
designs offer compelling wireless communication experiences, and we expect them to help strengthen
our position in markets worldwide, particularly in the worlds rapidly developing economies.
For CDMA in the W-series, we added the W355 mass-market design. Also for CDMA, we launched a new
spin on the classic Star Tac 3 for consumers in Korea. And in the US, we launched the
feature-packed experience-rich and ultrafast 3G RAZR for CDMA/EV-DO networks.
Turning to consumers who are seeking all the benefits that UMTS has to offer, we added an important
device to our UMTS offerings with the KRZR K3, which delivers elegant style and a compelling
suite of data-driven experiences from music and video to imaging, gaming and more.
So I also want to remind everyone that we announced 18 new products during the quarter. We started
the year with CES where we unveiled MOTOMING for GSM/EDGE, a quad-band touchscreen powerhouse that
builds on the success of MING in Asia. Also, at CES we showcased MOTOROKR E6, our quad-band
touchscreen device for GSM/EDGE, that delivers a great mobile music experience. And there is much
more. But, in the interest of time, I will just call out some of our newly announced products that
blend rich experiences and compelling design. MOTORIZR Z8, our innovative kick slider design
for HSDPA, that became the star of the headlines at 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona. MOTOROKR Z6,
our newest music-enabled slider for CDMA/EV-DO networks. MOTO Q gsm, the highly anticipated
quad-band Q for GSM/EDGE, and MOTO Q 9h, our first messaging and data device for HSDPA.
But, as Ed made clear in his opening comments, we must deliver more than just great-looking
devices, and we have identified key elements to drive progress at Mobile Devices now. First, we are
working to reduce legacy hardware and software platforms as we transition to our three core
operating systems AJAR for the mass-market and low tier,
Linux/Java for mid- and high-tier
devices and Microsoft Good for smart phones. Additionally were driving further efficiencies by
leveraging our multisource, multitier silicon strategy. Second, were expanding our UMTS lineup with
compelling new designs and rich experiences. Third, we have announced and started shipping several
new feature-rich designs from our W-series platform for the mass-market and mid-tier. Fourth, we
have identified opportunities to further reduce operating costs and eliminate redundancies within
the business. And fifth, we have identified and begun to eliminate conflicts and overlaps in our
distribution system to ensure pricing and supply stability for finished goods in the markets we
serve.
So, as we wrap up a review of Mobile Devices, I want to emphasize that we will get Mobile Devices
back on track to a level of performance that you have come to count on and expect. As Tom said, Q2
will be a difficult quarter for Mobile Devices, but we do expect the operating loss to improve
slightly.
And finally, I will repeat what Tom said a few minutes ago, we do expect Mobile Devices to be
profitable for the full year.
So now lets turn our attention for a minute or two to Networks & Enterprise. Looking at the
specific results, sales are up approximately 20% year-over-year, driven by our enterprise business
and the government and public safety market. As we anticipated, those increases were partially
offset by continuing softness in our carrier networks business, principally 2G GSM and iDEN in the
US. Excluding acquisition and restructuring-related costs, our year-over-year operating earnings
were up due to increased sales volume. However, operating margin, while still double-digit declined
year-over-year, primarily due to continued GSM infrastructure pricing pressure and a decline in
volume for iDEN. Government and public safety had a record quarter in sales and operating earnings,
driven by continued strength in our state and local business in the US, as well as in international
markets.
Our enterprise mobility business exceeded our expectations in sales, operating earnings and margin,
and overall the integration of Symbol, the second largest acquisition in Motorolas history, is
tracking to our expectations.
Lets take a quick look at highlights from other different areas within Networks & Enterprise.
First, our government and public safety business continues to be an excellent performer. Coming off
our best year ever in this business, we continued to see strong results in Q1 around the world,
including growth in the Americas and the EMEA. We had some large wins this quarter, including a
substantial contract with Riverside County, California to provide a new voice and data system that
includes MESH networking. We continue to demonstrate our leadership with the
employments of our innovative technologies. This included installation of a MESH network in the
city of Kissimmee, Florida, which is being used by government agencies and to provide public
wireline access.
In Los Angeles we are proud to be working with the city and the LAPD to install a wireless network
with MESH networking and video surveillance system.
And finally, I wanted to mention our participation last month in FOSE, which is the abbreviation
for the largest government tradeshow, which is held in Washington, D.C. At the show we introduced
two new fully rugged, wireless-enabled mobile computers the ML 910 rugged notebook and the MV 810
mobile workstation. The ML 910 was honored with a Best of FOSE Award in the Notebook Category.
Moving onto enterprise, this quarter we launched our enterprise mobility business upon completion
of the Symbol acquisition. We are beginning to realize the cost synergies we expected in areas like
procurement and real estate, and we are making good progress in integrating the two organizations.
This is the most notable in the sales organization where we are progressing well in aligning our
enterprise and government sales teams and distribution channels. It was a great first quarter.
We introduced new products, perhaps the most important of which was the first version of a new type
of dual-mode enterprise digital assistant called the MC35. It combines advanced GSM voice and data
capabilities, including Wi-Fi and Bluetooth, built-in GPS with laptop functionality, a camera and a
bar-code reader. The MC35 joins the durable MC50 and rugged MC70 as the third device in Motorolas
family of enterprise digital assistants. This is a great device that complements the Q very well,
and it is getting positive reviews from the media, industry analysts and customers.
Just last week, we named Kathy Paladino the new leader of our enterprise mobility business. Kathy
was a member of the senior management team at Symbol. She is a terrific leader and has a great team
of senior executives working with her in engineering with Boris Metlitsky, product management,
supply chain services and the support functions. Working together, they will ensure we execute on
our integration objectives and timelines and continue to grow this business. And I will be heading
out to Holtsville, Long Island later today.
Turning to our public carrier 2G/3G business, I talked earlier about the challenges we face in this
space. However, we did make progress. We announced four new 2G/3G contracts during Q1, including
UMTS contracts and a GSM expansion contract with Celtel Nigeria. In addition, weve extended our
CDMA supply contract with Sprint Nextel, and we signed a CDMA network expansion agreement with
KDDI. We also announced a new universal base station for our CDMA customers.
Our iDEN business has declined in the US as we have previously communicated, but strong iDEN growth
continues in international markets.
Lets turn to WiMAX. It is the key component of our MOTOwi4 family of wireless broadband
technologies. WiMAX is bringing us new customers. The trials and contracts we have in this space
cut across wireline and wireless carriers as well as new entrants. As of today, we are
participating in 25 trials globally, and we have signed nine contracts. This quarter we announced a
contract to deploy the first WiMAX network in Chile, and we announced trials in Brazil and the
Netherlands.
At the end of the quarter, Sprint Nextel announced that it was awarding us five additional markets
for WiMAX infrastructure buildout, mainly in Minneapolis, Kansas City, Indianapolis, Detroit and
Grand Rapids, Michigan. This is in addition to our current Chicago deployment. We remain as excited
as ever about WiMAXs potential for our customers and our business.
So looking out through 2007, we expect Networks & Enterprise to continue to deliver strong and
solid results. We are expanding our position in our government and public safety business by
introducing new innovative IP-based voice and data solutions. We expect to continue building that
momentum by investing to grow wireless broadband with WiMAX leading the way, and at the same time,
we will manage our 2G and 3G investments appropriately.
With our acquisition of Symbol technologies, we have created category leadership in enterprise
mobility, and we will seize the growth opportunities across our portfolio and channels.
Now
lets turn to our Connected Home Solutions business. The Connected Home Solutions business
delivered an extraordinary and exceptional quarter, and congratulations to Dan Maloney and the
entire worldwide team. During the quarter we crossed a significant
milestone with more than $1 billion in sales, which is a 42% growth year-over-year versus Q1 of 06. Outstanding!
Operating margin was 10.9%, reflecting the continuing strong earnings result that we delivered last
year. During Q1 we shipped nearly 5 million digital entertainment devices, including cable and IP
set-tops. An overall record quarter.
Specifically for IP set-tops, shipments increased more than 100% versus last year, and we reached
the 1 million IP set-top shipment milestone. We remain the leader in this critical emerging video
market. Following the close of the quarter, we began shipping digital cable host products to US
operators in support of the July 2007 set-top separable security mandated by the FCC. Voice and
data modem shipments continue strong, reaching 2.6 million units, and still number one in cable
modems, our voice shipments were just shy of 1 million units, reprimanding 50% growth versus last
year. With the addition of a robust DSL portfolio, we are well positioned to increase our share of
the market in voice and data globally.
We have
been investing in the connected home, the hub of seamless mobility. Motorolas new on-demand
solutions business, formally Broadbus, marked significant gain in the video on-demand market,
achieving a significant milestone of 500,000 video streams shipped in three years, which is a
fantastic accomplishment.
And finally, we continue to add to the intellectual property in Connected Home by recently closing
two new acquisitions during the quarter Netopia, which brings us a robust portfolio of DSL
gateways, network management for the IP triple-play solutions, and operators around the world are
interested in the Motorola offering as a result of this acquisition. Tut Systems, which expand our
ability to help service providers deploy advanced video services over IP, ATM or RF-based network
architectures.
Our strategy for Connected Home Solutions is clear, straightforward and delivering outstanding
results today. We are delivering our leadership position and leveraging that. We are delivering
innovative end-to-end solutions, and we are enabling new experiences that will define the home as
the hub of seamless mobility. And with that summary of the operations, I will now turn it back over
to Dean.
Dean Lindroth - Motorola Inc. VP, IR
Thank you, Greg. Before we begin taking questions, I would just like to remind callers to
limit themselves to one question so that we can accommodate as many participants as possible.
Operator, if you can now provide our callers with the instructions on how to ask a question.
QUESTION AND ANSWER
Operator
(OPERATOR INSTRUCTIONS). Scott Coleman, Morgan Stanley.
Scott Coleman - Morgan Stanley Analyst
I am wondering if you could just help us understand what contribution Symbol made to the
Networks & Enterprise business this quarter? And then I actually have a question more broadly on
handsets, which is some of the areas that you outlined in terms of moving reduced legacy platforms
and moving to three operating systems, a multi-tiered silicon strategy. A lot of these items I think
were probably in place before business started to struggle late last year. So are you really
talking about accelerating those endeavors? Im wondering if you can quantify the impact you think
these might have on the handset business? How should we track the progress you are making?
Tom
Meredith - Motorola Inc. CFO
What I would like to do is have Greg handle the question on the Symbol acquisition and have Ed
turn in his view on the acceleration of the platform.
Greg Brown - Motorola Inc. President & COO
So, Scott, on Symbol, as I mentioned, the integration, by the way, is tracking exactly to our
expectations. It was a strong contributor to Q1 results for Networks & Enterprise. It has gone
really, really well both on revenue and earnings contribution, and we would expect that to continue
for the balance of 2007.
Ed Zander - Motorola Inc. Chairman & CEO
Scott, I think youre right on. We have been talking about some of these platforms for several
years actually. One of the problems over there has been we just havent moved with a sense of
urgency and priorities. I think the lack of focus on the realities of
3G, while they were known,
were not executed, and that is the reason we made some of the changes over there. And the second
thing is putting a stake in the ground around when we are going to get Linux/Java out so we can do
multi-platforms.
This was one of our concerns way back in 2004, 2005 that we had to make both our architecture and
an operating system transition, and I think some of the delays and lagging and procrastination on
some of these things had begun to hurt us back in Q4 and now, of course, this year. So I think
what Terry has done over there with Greg has now really lit the fire. Rich Nottenburg is playing a
role in the silicon strategy to get us the multi-source silicon in place. We should have been there,
and frankly, on Linux/Java we should also be converting much faster, which you are going to start
seeing this year. So yes, we are reprioritizing our investments and putting a bigger focus on if
you dont have that silicon and you cannot get that Linux/Java capability into the marketplace, it
is very hard to deliver the high-end compelling experiences and 3G roadmap that we need to compete
in the marketplace.
Operator
Phil Cusick, Bear Stearns.
Phil Cusick - Bear Stearns Analyst
I wonder
if we could talk a little bit about handsets. The 500 basis-point or so drop quarter
to quarter in share I think is certainly a big part of that was an inventory drawdown. So I
wonder if we could talk about one, what regions were weaker around the world? You said North
America and Central America were strong. But also how far down do you think the inventory is drawn,
and what do you think maybe sellout share might have been rather than the 17.5% sell-in? Thanks.
Greg Brown - Motorola Inc. President & COO
So, from a global perspective, North America and Latin America had solid results. We were
challenged in the emerging markets and Europe and parts of Asia as well. Having said that, as we
have referenced, we decided to take proactive action on channel rationalization and pricing actions
within Q1. That led to, as we previously referenced, inventory levels that were slightly elevated
within the quarter, and we will continue to work aggressively in collaboration with our customers
to work that down in Q2.
Phil Cusick - Bear Stearns Analyst
So when we heard from you a month ago, it sounded like theres still a couple of months of
inventory overhang in the channel. Do you feel like that has drawn down at this point, or is there
still a few months to go?
Greg Brown - Motorola Inc. President & COO
Yes, were making progress, and we will work it through and continue progress in Q2.
Ed Zander - Motorola Inc. Chairman & CEO
I want to also caution that, as in some geographies with some channel partners, there are
areas like here in the United States, certainly Latin America that are doing quite well, that have
good levels of inventory with our partners. I think by now you know its mostly the growth markets,
the emerging markets throughout the world, not just Southeast Asia, where we exhibited a lot of
those challenges. We are working it down, and I
expect a lot of it to be cleared by this quarter. It impacted into our business. So were making
good progress there, but it does take time. And that is what I talked about in terms of
rationalizing our indirect and our direct businesses. And I think what Ray is doing with his team
is putting in the right kind of contracts and the right kind of discipline with our great
distribution partners so that we can effectively return to the kind of direct/indirect balance that
we have had in years past.
Operator
Tal Liani, Merrill Lynch.
Tal Liani - Merrill Lynch Analyst
A question about headsets again. The next quarter margin is probably related to the portfolio
you have today. The question I have is, for the second half, is the margin recovery totally
depending on your new portfolio, the success of the new portfolio, or is there anything you are
doing or planning to do that will bring the margins higher to the levels of sort of 4 to 5%? So if
we look at this sustainable margin level, assuming you have you dont replicate maybe the
success of the RAZR, but you have decent success with any new handset, what is the sustainable
margin level that we say, okay, the Company should be able at least to go back to this level even
if there is only moderate success for the new handsets?
Greg Brown - Motorola Inc. President & COO
Yes, so I think that our improvements in Mobile Devices are kind of have multi-elements.
Some are dependent on new product launches, which I think we have gauged pretty well and is
reflected in the guidance we have given. We referenced the fact that we had 18 new products already
announced and to get them into the shippable category and begin to get traction with our variety of
carrier and retail customers obviously has continued importance, and we will work diligently on
that.
I think also you will see us take a more discipline pricing set of actions that should drive
improved profitability and stabilize margins. But there is other elements within our control, not
just banking on, if you will, new products, and that is aggressive cost management. And as we have
all referenced pretty consistently, we are attacking organizational duplication. We are going to
aggressively continue to work on the supply chain side on cost of goods efficiencies. But we are
also looking at below gross margin opportunities, so we get the kind of necessary requisite
improvement in earnings and operating cash flow to move our business forward and grow it
accordingly.
I think you will also see, quite frankly, some rejuvenated target marketing opportunities. I think
for awhile Motorola was quite good and effective on certain segment and product marketing and
overall marketing that elevated our brand. For awhile I think we got away from that, and you will
see us regenerate that in a targeted way, geared around toward higher margin products where we
think we can differentiate and succeed. So stay tuned on the marketing front as well.
Operator
Mike Ounjian, Credit Suisse.
Mike Ounjian - Credit Suisse Analyst
First, just a clarification on the channel inventory situation. You talked about taking
actions to improve those levels. I just wanted to find out, is there any kind of rebating or price
protection for the distributors that is required? If so, should we expect to have seen that in the
Q1 results, or is that part of the Q2 guidance? And then more broadly, how should we expect the
benefits from some of these cost reduction initiatives to flow through the financials over the
course of the year? Are you seeing any of that in Q2, or is that really all in the second half?
Greg Brown - Motorola Inc. President & COO
So I think, just to take the second part first, the operating cost efficiencies that we will
drive and we have started to take action on in Q1 and specifically in Mobile Devices, Ray Roman and
Terry Vega and us will continue to accelerate, yes, I think you will see that get increased
traction,
which is reflected in the gradual second half recovery in Mobile Devices, which puts us in a
position where we expect to be profitable for the overall year.
In terms of the channels, you are right. Were continuing to work with our distribution partners
and customers closely to get those at more reasonable levels. And, as Ed has already referenced, we
expect to make significant progress in that in Q2.
Operator
Jeff Kvval, Lehman Brothers.
Jeff Kvaal - Lehman Brothers Analyst
I was wondering if you would not mind commenting a little bit about the stability in ASPs that
you generated this quarter and perhaps which of the product lines that youre thinking about
streamlining over the course of 2007? Thanks very much.
Ed Zander - Motorola Inc. Chairman & CEO
Well, I think it was again, you take small signs of progress. But we have had the kind of
management direction there in the second half of the year, a constant desire to grow market share,
even if it meant sacrificing gross margin percentage and ASPs, and that was reversed in February.
And what our direction was and Rays direction to the field was to put in place pricing
architecture and deal flow that would start to stabilize gross margin percentage and ASPs and we
did.
Now we have got to continue to do that. In fact, we have got to continue to grow it if we can.
(inaudible) to the last question, it is all about new products, and it is all about gross margin.
We are going to focus on below the line, but Im focusing on my time working with Terry, in fact,
on gross margin and above the line in getting the products out there at the right price points to
sell into the marketplace. So it is about gross margin.
What was the second question?
Jeff Kvaal - Lehman Brothers Analyst
I was just wondering about which phones in particular you were thinking about streamlining?
Ed Zander - Motorola Inc. Chairman & CEO
Oh, streamlining. I think were looking at the entire portfolio. I dont know whether we
announced them or not. We have got some products on some architectures that are not producing. As I
said earlier, I want every product we sell to make money in every geography. I mean theres no
ifs, ands or buts about that.
So we are trimming the portfolio. We have EOLed some products that, frankly, we should have done
awhile ago. We are trimming some of the designs. I think we have, for example, today I really
do. It is hard to do this when you have the kind of performance, but I believe we have the best
GSM/EDGE iconic-looking feature phone product line in the industry. I sit in front sometimes and
look at the RAZR lineups, the new 3G RAZRs that are at Cingular right now and other places. I look
at the KRZR products, the new 3G one we just introduced. We have great mid-range products. The
problem is, as we said earlier, they are being squeezed by the high-end, which is 3G and
multimedia, and of course, the low-end, you need cost structure.
So we need to trim in some areas of our portfolio. We have too many price products in the same
price points doing the same things, and we have to put that engineering resource onto the areas
that were right now I think not as competitive, which I said earlier is turning out. ROKR is our
first really, really good music product, which you will be seeing very shortly. We have this video
product that we introduced in Europe with this kick slider. We need that. That is where you get the
incremental profits and margins. We need more rich experience products. We need more 3G products.
And at the low-end, if we are going to introduce products like MOTOFONE or the W-series, weve got
to make money on them, and that is what we are focusing on there.
So what were doing is redirecting the portfolio, watching more investments on P2K, which is the
old software platform; moving to Linux/Java as fast as we can. A lot of work because we spent a lot
of money in R&D in Mobile Devices, but we have got to get more profit out of that R&D. The bottom
line is the R&D in Mobile Devices has to start delivering the profitability that we are spending;
otherwise, we have to think about that R&D expense. So that is
what is going on every day up in
Libertyville and around the world with Terry and her team, and Greg and I are participating also in
the stuff.
Operator
Maynard Um, UBS.
Maynard Um - UBS Analyst
A quick question on cash flow. Obviously Mobile Devices will be a key part of your cash flow
in getting to the positive operating cash flow for the year, but on the balance sheet, specifically
for the DSOs in the quarter were higher; inventory turns were lower. Can you just talk about
what your target DSOs and inventory turns are implied in your cash flow guidance for the year? And
then if you could, just a clarification on the charges by the various segments. Thanks.
Tom Meredith - Motorola Inc. CFO
Im sorry. I missed your first name. This is Tom Meredith. Maynard, the cash conversion cycle
is something that I think our company is now extremely focused on. And, as you know, that is just
arithmetically the sum of your inventories and receivables minus your payables. Our cash conversion
cycle for the quarter was 55 days, as I mentioned on the talking points. I think it is frankly
unsatisfactory, and we are going to drive significant changes. Im not going to give you a target
right now, but you will hear more about this whole subject in the coming months, and no doubt by
the time we make the additional announcements before June 1 on cost reductions.
But if you looked at my background, you will know that I am a person who is very focused on
following the money, and I think I have a pretty established record on what that means. We will
drive the Company through Gregs and Eds adoption and embracement of cash flow, which they have
been focused on previously. But weve had some missteps in recent quarters, and we are going to fix
those.
Charges by segment. I would say, why dont you follow-up with Dean and [Lori] after the call?
Operator
Todd Koffman, Raymond James.
Todd Koffman - Raymond James Analyst
You have talked the last couple months about some adjustments in your silicon suppliers. What
is the timing of those adjustments as you move into some alternate silicon suppliers?
Ed Zander - Motorola Inc. Chairman & CEO
I think you will see, it is mostly a well, first of all, we use multiple silicon today, but
the kinds of things we need to do is to have a multisourced silicon strategy across many of our
tiers so that like in the case we are in right now, which is our problem is the ability not to have
a lower-cost 3G solution with our current chipset supplier. We have got to get out of that, and
that is the thing we are moving toward. It is probably a 2008. Obviously were trying to understand
whether it is early 2008 or mid 2008, but somewhere in that range. So we are firing away right now
in designs as we speak. And looking not only in one spot but in a couple of spots.
So the goal here is across all of our tiers, and we have a mass-market tier. We have a feature
phone tier. We have the multimedia tier, and we have the messaging tier is to have silicon
suppliers with an architecture. The thing that we really need to have right now is a platform as
opposed
to a product architecture. With a platform architecture, I can move way quicker on substituting
silicon vendors if a silicon does not meet pricing technology points now and then too technical.
But what Rich and Terrys team have been doing is actually designing this, what I call platform
architecture that will give us much more flexibility in selecting silicon suppliers. So we are in
design right now. As you know, sometimes these new things do take six to nine months to get one of
these products out here, but were looking certainly in 2008. It does not mean by the way, I
dont want we are not going to have 3G products here in 2007. Were not going to bunch out right
now. We have got more in the second half. I think youre going to like some of them. But to give us
the pricing tiers that we need, we need to do that.
The other thing we are doing is getting suppliers that are best-in-class for everything from RF,
baseband and application process. We have been very limited with the architecture of who we can
select. With this new architecture now, not only do we get processor, but we get the application
processor and RF capability and baseband capability among different suppliers.
So Im really, really excited about what Rich and his team have done for 2008. Obviously I wish in
2007 that we had these products in the marketplace. So we have got to tough it out this year with
what we have, and we will and were doing cost reductions using supply chain and using just
better holding our pricing on 3G. And we do have a portfolio of that. We are getting music, we are
going to get video, but 2008 is when we really can explode with a multiplatform design here that
really spans a bigger range of pricing and performance.
Operator
Mark Sue, RBC Capital Markets.
Mark Sue - RBC Capital Markets Analyst
Ed, just on your pricing strategy, should we read into your comments that ASPs will hold from
here on forth if not improve? And I ask it since it is still a consumer market and carriers are
still trying to drive prices lower, and Im sure there is a floor in terms of acceptable market
share, and what is that floor?
Ed Zander - Motorola Inc. Chairman & CEO
Well. Great questions and I have been my forecasting has not been very good lately at least
in the last certainly one or two quarters in this space. All I can tell you is what we are focusing
on. And I think the focus in that organization right or wrong in the last half of 2006 was on
market share at all costs, and that was in retrospect the big, I think, error in judgment. We fixed
that. So its not that we dont want American share. I love market share, always have, but you have
got to make money in what you do. And what we are driving right now and what Ray and Terry and Greg
and myself and Tom is, we have got to make money.
It does not mean you dont drive market share. Were in India. Were in Vietnam, and we are in all
these countries. It is just that you have got to pick the spots and you have got to pick the
products, and you have got to pick your areas of entry in these areas.
So ASP is a good indicator. Were looking at it a lot harder. Were driving it. I cannot tell you
what this quarter, next quarter is going to be, other than it is a big focus item for us as is
gross margin percentage.
And the second question was market share. Hard one to call because of where we are at in terms of
what our focus is. It does not mean that we we are having reviews, in fact, this week on [GOs],
and we look at every geography and looking at their market share growth versus competition. It is
something you have to keep in front of you. But having said that, sacrificing a percentage or two
in a certain area to gain back the foothold of financial strength in that geography, the problem is
not the growth markets. It is not just about products; it is about investments. And I think perhaps
the error in judgment back in Q4 was that we could drive low priced products and low cost products
together with all the investments. Because if youre going to go into India or you are going to go
in Vietnam and you are going into Nigeria, youve got to open up retail. Youve got to make the
marketing and brand investments. So it is below the line costs, as well as top-of-the-line costs.
So you need the products that give you the profitability if youre going to measure a country P&L.
I think you know where I am going here.
So were looking at the country P&L, how much marketing dollars, how much retail dollars, what have
you got to go do? And weve got to be more selective in picking our spots. Were still after number
one, but I think you need a better strategy going after everyone and just throwing a
lot of products out there, cutting prices and putting distributors in business, which I think was
some of the implementation that went on there. And were just fixing it. It will take us sometimes.
It may hurt a little bit in terms of market share, but I think when we look back, this is going to
be a real defining moment for us in terms of driving a business here that has long-term
profitability and long-term growth. That is what we did in 2004 and 2005. I think it got a little
bit out of control in the middle part of 2006. So that is it. That is where we are driving.
Operator
Ehud Gelblum, JPMorgan.
Ehud Gelblum - JPMorgan Analyst
As you look back over the last couple of years, you certainly were increasing each quarter the
number of handset units that you were shipping. I would imagine, as you were doing that, you were
having to go further out in terms of reserving capacity both with component suppliers, as well as
with manufacturing capacity and stuff like that. How much and I am assuming now that you shipped
45, 46 million handsets for this quarter that you had to absorb a lot of prereserved capacity
that was not used. I am wondering how much of the minus 4% operating margin this quarter was due to
absorbing capacity that was not used because of your new plans in terms of pricing and how many
quarters out does that go?
And then when I look before we recover some of that prereserve capacity, and then when I look at
your guidance, Greg, backing into Mobile Devices guidance, total guidance is flat, Connected Home
is flat and networks is up, implying that Mobile Devices is sort of flattish to downish. Handset
markets generally grow 3 to 5% in the second quarter, which means that if you are maintaining
share, you should be from your 17.5%, you should sort of grow volume a little bit so your ASPs
should follow. Is that the right way to look at what you kind of baked into your numbers, or do you
think ASPs kind of next quarter in terms of how youre looking at it just stay roughly the same and
perhaps use a little bit of market share in Q2?
Ed Zander - Motorola Inc. Chairman & CEO
Im sorry. (multiple speakers). What was the first part? I have got you. (multiple speakers).
I have got you. That was a good question. I did talk to Stu. One of the best kept secrets, and its
hard to see sometimes, but you saw it the last couple of years is the phenomenal work Stu Reed has
done in his organization and supply chain.
One of the things we moved away from in the first year of 2004 was just to have a bunch of
suppliers versus a bunch of strategic partners, and I think what you are seeing or what Stu is
working with is that our partners that supply us the key products are working with us through this
transition and downturn.
So Im not sure I can relate to that or whether there was any of that. We have given some of these
suppliers who have benefited from the 2005 and 2006 growth are underspending in 2007, and they are
staying with us and working with us on what we have got to go do. Good question, though, and I will
have the team will be here Dean, maybe talk to Stu on that if there is anything in that area.
I have not heard anything in that, other than they understand were number two. They understand we
still have considerable volume here, and if you believe our story, we will be back in the not too
distant future. So we work with them on these downturns as well as upturns. So maybe we will
follow-up on that, but Greg, what was the last ?
Greg Brown - Motorola Inc. President & COO
Yes, on the guidance, as you kind of done your back of the envelope, let me just reiterate,
lets kind of take it by segment. Youre right. Connected Home coming off of a record Q1, I think
its only the second $1 billion plus quarter they have ever had, and Dans team is just cooking on
all cylinders. So commensurately with that, Q2 youre right, were planning on still a very strong
quarter but sequentially generally in line with Q1.
For Networks & Enterprise and consistent with what we have said before, we have got the cellular
infrastructure piece of Networks & Enterprise specifically more GSM pricing and margin pressure as
we have communicated declining. And iDEN in the US declining, that is offset by growth in public
safety and Symbol or now enterprise mobility. So when you net all those components together, we do
see revenue in Networks & Enterprise in Q2 up slightly.
With Q2 in Mobile Devices, consistent with what we have said and where we are for all the reasons
described, youre right. It is going to be another difficult quarter in Q2. It is good news at
least that ASP is stabilized, which reverses the decline of ASPs I think for the last six plus
quarters in Mobile Devices. But yes, were looking to stabilize ASPs, and were all about looking
at Tom and I and the team and Ed about increasing gross margin and improving operating
earnings between now and the end of the year and the second half.
Ehud Gelblum - JPMorgan Analyst
But if the market grows, then you will be losing share in the second quarter (inaudible)?
Ed Zander - Motorola Inc. Chairman & CEO
I think you could certainly work the math. I think it is April 15. I think look, what we
need to do is get our legs back on the ground in that division and start executing to numbers that
they can deliver. Theres a lot of stuff happening between now and June 30. Were shipping new
products as we speak. We have just got to go with this plan and basically deliver on what we say
were going to go do, and hopefully some of these new products start taking hold. So right now it
is very early in the quarter, and this is what we see, and some of these new products are shipping
here. So that is the best we can give you at this time.
Operator
Brandt Thompson, Goldman Sachs.
Brandt Thompson - Goldman Sachs Analyst
I was wondering if you can give us a little more color on some of that ASP trend. You talked
about kind of in February being able to turn it and get stabilized ASPs for the quarter. As you
look throughout the year, youre going to be ramping more 3G phones. You are going to be picking
your spots as you said in emerging markets. I would think that would suggest that your ASPs
actually could move up throughout the year. Is there any color you could give us around just the
mix of your overall business that would kind of where it is now or where you might expect it to
be that could give us a flavor for how that might play out?
Greg Brown - Motorola Inc. President & COO
I think your logic is right. So, as we have talked about, we took proactively pricing actions
which stabilized ASPs. Having said that, we talked about new products we have announced and that
were shipping and we will get traction between now and the end of the year. We have also talked
about not just focusing on cool stuff and iconic designs, but marrying that with silicon software
and rich experiences that take us up the value chain so we can extract higher prices and margin,
and clearly that is our directional goal. So that is what were trying to do between now and the
end of the year and in 08.
Ed Zander - Motorola Inc. Chairman & CEO
Yes, I think you said it. If you look at the profit pools of the world in this business, we
know where they are. And Europe represents a profit pool, and it is 3G, and of that 3G, there is
some part of that that is these richer experiences. We need to be there.
In US were doing quite well, but still you can hear you can take some of the GSM customers.
They are moving to 3G and subsidizing 3G heavily into their networks. A lot of 3G operators now
need to get 3G products in. Even if the user does not experience 3G, it is about the network
efficiency and what they do with their 3G networks. That is where the subsidies are going, and in
some cases you will find even GSM products not being subsidized at that level, which puts it at a
disadvantage into the market.
So that is an area of profit pool that we just got to get at, and it is going to be some in Q2, a
little better in Q3, even better than that in Q4, and then, of course, when we get the things we
talked about with [LJ] and some of the silicon in 2008 a whole lot better. And the other area we
have got to do, which is internal execution, is when were going to announce low-end products like
the new W-series, weve got to make money on them. And weve got to pick our spots to go after,
which will also help too.
So I think in the midrange, as I said earlier, we are okay. If you look at we always talk about
RAZR, but it is still doing quite well. It still had a good quarter. We introduced new 3G versions.
If you run down to a Cingular store, its a great product, a hot product. We just introduced a good
3G one, a new chrome one. We have them in Europe now, and I think you will see more in the second
half of this year off of the RAZR family and, of course, the new 3G KRZR, which right now is only
in Europe. So those all help. And what we need to do is get more of those out there because again,
when youre dealing whether it is 45 million or whatever the number is 200 million units, you
need to get more of those units at those higher profits with higher ASPs.
Tom Meredith - Motorola Inc. CFO
And for the rest of the people on the call, I hear very loudly from Ed and Greg a very
consistent theme, that we as a team have historically answered the questions on one dimension,
growth. It was measured by market share. What youre hearing is that we are actually much more
focused on balance between our cash flow, our profitability and growth. And right now growth is
playing third base, and we need to get to first and second. And that is what youre going to see.
So it does not take a prodigy, and certainly not mere mortals like us, to figure out that when you
look at RIMM and what RIMM is doing in the enterprise base and the messaging space, that there is
an ASP thats a pretty desirable ASP. And we think our Q and q9 product is wonderful for
positioning in that market, and the last I checked RIMM is more local than global. I would also
emphasize that in the context of the rich experiences, we know who the competition is. It is Sony
Ericsson and Samsung, and we need to play to their space.
Operator
Edward Synder, Charter Equity Group.
Edward Snyder - Charter Equity Group Analyst
A couple of questions if I could real quick. You keep talking about 3G, and I understand the
push for that to stabilize ASPs. But is 3G accretive to your gross margins or operating margins in
phones at this point given your silicon suppliers?
We have
talked ad nauseum now about ASPs, but I dont want to be blunt here, but who cares? If
youre going to put a 3G phone out there I mean if your market shift moves to 3G phones and you
pointed out RIMM here, and youre losing money on 3G, youre going to lose more money on ASPs. It
is a blended ASP youre talking about anyway, right?
I mean if you look at your major competitor, Nokia, they are shipping a ton of low-end phones.
Their blended ASP is moving to the low-end, but their printing money on those phones because their
cost basis is much smaller. So Im guessing, is the focus on ASP really warranted, or as Ed said in
the past, is it really more of a focus on profit on phones that makes the difference?
Ed Zander - Motorola Inc. Chairman & CEO
You have got it right. You know me, I have been kind of not indifferent but certainly not
pushing or focusing on ASP. It is profit. It is gross margin percentage. ASP as an indicator is
probably a symptom, but if you really want to get at the issue at hand, you look in your gross
margin percentage of the business. But we saw actually ASPs moving down without the profit with it.
So I agree with you. I always said that, if you look at the number one supplier in this business,
well, ASPs came down, they were generating more profit.
But they go if you look at it by a product by product basis, you may use the word ASP, but you
look at the net contribution of profit. So I agree with you. The 3G products we ship have to make
more money. We have got some challenges there, especially at the high-end of that area with some of
the chip manufacturers. But call it ASP, call it gross margin percentage. It is making more money
from your profits for your products is what we are measuring right now. We are measuring every
product in the product line in every geography on this business. Not that we were not doing it
before, but we are really just shining the light on each one of these products.
Tom Meredith - Motorola Inc. CFO
I would add, Ed, that you heard Ed Zander and Greg talk about picking our targets, picking our
markets, making sure that we enter the right markets at the tactically important price points and
tiers and with the right cost models, and that is above the line as well as below the line.
Im a big believer again for those that followed my career, you know Im a firm advocate that low
cost always wins. But you need brand and marketing essentially to sustain the game. You dont have
to lose your low cost to establish low price or low SAP. You mentioned that Nokia is printing
money. We know that. We cannot afford to not be in the markets where they are printing money. So we
have to be more astute in terms of how we go after those markets, and we have to be vigilant in
terms of our cost for design, as well as how we are investing in those markets so as to avoid the
channel conflict that we inadvertently created by going after market share alone.
Edward Snyder - Charter Equity Group Analyst
So to your point, if Motorola is wildly successful in this restructuring and your platforms
are wildly successful, you will be much stronger in the low-end market. We will see your ASPs
actually decline but your profit margins to actually rocket maybe even to the double-digit teens.
Im not talking 08 or 09, but the point is ASPs will go down but margins will go way up, and you
will be a vastly more profitable because of it, right?
Tom Meredith - Motorola Inc. CFO
Let me just call out that you said if we are wildly successful. Im going to say when we are
wildly successful first. And Im not convinced that we will see declining ASPs if we get the right
mix of products. Because there are multiple players across the spectrum against when we were
competing.
Remember this is not just a mobile device company. It is also a Connected Home and Networks &
Enterprise company, all of which have significant different opportunity profit pools available to
them and price points and inventory and receivables and, therefore, cash conversion cycles. So,
from my perspective, watch that space, and three weeks into the job, I will give you more detail
along with Ed and Greg and Dean and Lori and others as time progresses.
Operator
Tim Long, Bank of America.
Tim Long - Bank of America Analyst
I apologize to Ed Synder for another ASP question here. I just wanted to go back to some
comments, Ed Zander, you made at the analyst day. Well, you did talk about a lot of the prices for
the mobile device business being set for Q1, so there was going to be an impact there. Im just
curious how you were able to pull out the flat ASPs? How do we look into that? Does that mean you
were able to get out of some of those deals, or you just really avoided a lot of the other business
that would have had a similar effect on the Company, or was there some other offset?
And secondarily, is there any are there any deals remaining heading into Q2 that are still
hangovers from the Q4 timeframe where there are certain pieces of the business and geographies over
certain carriers where you are unfortunately at a disadvantaged price due to a prior contract?
Ed Zander - Motorola Inc. Chairman & CEO
Well, you know it is just too hard to go into a quarter and say this is what your ASP is going
to be and then back it out. I think what you do is you do your actions and then you get the results
kind of thing.
I think as Greg said, in mid-February when we initiated some of the management changes that we
wanted to go do, we sat down basically and said this is not working. Just a plan in place was not
going to work. And that is when we decided we looked at call it gross margin, forget ASP
per product, per geography, the cost of doing business, and we started to make some priority
changes. Where are we going to put our investment dollars? Where are we going to put our product
focus? And in those 45 days, that turned into what we have got in terms of our components for the
quarter, and indeed yes, it stabilized ASPs, which was a result of some of the actions we took. And
that is what we are as Tom said, that is the kind of way were trying were not trying to
were going to operate the business this quarter and going forward with just a little more focus on
profitability and investments and how we do things, instead of just rushing out and thinking about
units, units, units.
The second question was, no, I dont know I dont really dont know we can get maybe an
answer for that from Ray, but we looked at the Q2 numbers in depth. Having Greg now and Tom here
has been great because weve got now six eyes looking at this business, one from a financial aspect
totally, which is Tom. Greg from the operating numbers and the plan and meeting with Ray and myself
from focusing not only on all that, but a lot of focus on strategy and products and competition.
And I dont know of any Greg, you can throw in here any contract or customer overhang or
anything else. I think we have kind of got everything now pretty well understood. Do you want to
answer that?
Greg Brown - Motorola Inc. President & COO
Yes, just a couple of other quick things. We did, as we referenced, we did discontinue
products in Q1. I think there were seven in total that we discontinued. And yes, we are in working
through in Q2 some existing contracts, some better than others, that we still have to work through
in Q2, and we are going to progress through the first half of the year and into the second doing
just that.
Tom Meredith - Motorola Inc. CFO
This is Tom. I want to pick up on your word, hangovers. I have never been particularly fond of
hangovers, and I certainly had my share of them, especially in my youth. But I would call out that
earlier we were talking about channel rationalization and conflict and working through that. That
is a hangover in the architectural archetypal sense of the word. We all know when you play in the
distribution game you give your vendors, distributors either stock rotation rights or pricing
protection. And that, in fact, is part of the hangover we are suffering in Q1 and in the first
half. It is just that clear. Maybe it is not that clear, but it should be.
Tim Long - Bank of America Analyst
Okay. I just wanted to ensure that none of those contracts that were set were canceled and,
therefore, creating potential backlash with the carriers or distributors.
Operator
Brian Modoff, Deutsche Bank.
Brian Modoff - Deutsche Bank Analyst
A couple of questions. First, on the network side, was the organic growth rate stripping out
Symbol and any other acquisitions that were factored in there?
And then second, on the handsets, when are we going to see some new form factors? I mean I looked
at your handsets and I know you are excited about some of the ones coming out, but they really are
iterations of existing models. When are we going to start seeing some new designs and some new
creativity out of Motorola? What would you say the timing of that would be?
Greg Brown - Motorola Inc. President & COO
So, on the network side, we had you think of it as there is multiple businesses within this
one called Networks & Enterprise. As we communicated in New York in January and on the last
earnings call, we did have contraction and pricing pressure on GSM. IDEN in the US declined as
well, mainly driven by Sprint as they migrate customers into their CDMA/EV-DO network. Again, we
have communicated that, and it is generally as expected. GSM is pretty rugged.
Having said that, if you think of it, we have got the decline in the 2G GSM/iDEN US business being
offset by increases in public safety or private networks growth and then the enterprise mobility
space vis-a-vis the integration and acquisition of Symbol. So when you kind of net through that,
that is what gets to the 20% year-over-year growth all in from an N&E perspective.
Brian Modoff - Deutsche Bank Analyst
The organic growth rate?
Greg Brown - Motorola Inc. President & COO
Yes, we have not broken out the organic growth rate with or without Symbol. But think of it
generally and directionally as a contraction of cellular infrastructure, again mainly GSM and iDEN.
By the way, I do want to add CDMA, the CDMA infrastructure business was very good and quite good on
a profitability standpoint and exceeding out our expectations mainly driven by Sprint and Verizon
and Alltel and in Japan KDDI. So that is really the story there on the growth rates.
Ed Zander - Motorola Inc. Chairman & CEO
The other thing too is in Q1 the Symbol revenue was also integrated with the existing
enterprise mobility revenue that we had. As you know, we had a business with Federal Express and
UPS and the Post Office. So I think we would have to go back and kind of separate those two to
really figure it out. Because now its running as a it does not run as Symbol anymore. It runs
as an enterprise mobility division, so we have put other things in there. And I think if we need
to, Greg has got to go look at that.
A good question on the form factors I certainly asked that a lot and spent a lot of time down in
(inaudible) city and a lot of times with Terrys people. I mean theres just so many ways you can
cut this thing. Theres this flip phone whose sliders and rotators and whatever. And Im not sure
if the design language is something that we necessarily have to go focus on as opposed to
experiences, which is where I think also we would be self-critical in 2006. It is an area that we
should have paid more attention to.
We talked about it in Cool Experiences. We just did not execute on it. We were the first ones to
have iTunes a couple of years ago, and I think the team just did not pick up on that because that
is where I think the action is.
We introduced in Europe you probably have not seen it Im going to try to show it to you here
in a short time, is the kick slider, which is a novel design, which is that product that is going
to deliver blazing video capability, and we will be shipping that hopefully in the end of Q2.
We do have some things off of the initial RAZR family and other things that you will see. We have
some things around video. We have some rugged design language, which I want to talk more about that
is pretty cool, and we have some techniques and I dont want a give our competition too much
that take the slider designs and the candy bar designs and add some technology that we think is
going to be breakthrough for us and you will see at the end of the year. I think we have kind of
referred to that in some of the discussions at last Julys analyst conference.
We are also a question I get asked a lot is touchscreens. My CFO over here uses as his main
device I dont know how he does it here in the US, but he does it is the MING product. MING
has been shipping in China now for the better part of a year and a half. It is a full touchscreen
phone. I dont know what the big deal is with touchscreen. It does it. It is great. It is usable.
We have tried touchscreens here in the US before. They have not worked. Maybe they will work now.
Were actually bringing MING into other GOs besides China as we implement that.
So the touchscreen technology everybody has, you see a lot of competitors, in fact, Samsung and
others, that were already introducing touchscreens. But I dont know how many other ways to build a
phone there is. I worry about some of these phones that have the front side is music, the back side
is keyboard. I looked at one the other day. It is very hard to use. We have got to be careful as
the Company that invented cool and the Company that invented design language, we dont start
building things that foldout like Swiss Army knives and turn upside-down and do whatever.
So to me, I will be honest with you, my focus is on experiences. I think weve got some cool
designs today. The 3G Q that I have been using that you have not seen yet here in the US, I think
is the best product we have produced since RAZR. It really combines a very Windows Mobile 6.0, a
lot of intuitive stuff. It has a lot of easy buttons for music, for cameras, for Flash, for
everything. So were trying to bring more utility, and I think the brouhaha about the product on
the West Coast that will be shown in June is not so much about the form factor. It is about what it
does, and that is what we as an industry have to move to. What are we going to do with these
devices? How do we bring the Internet and these rich experiences to whatever form factor it is? And
that is where I have the team now focused.
Dean Lindroth - Motorola Inc. VP, IR
Thank you. During this call we have made a number of forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are any statements that are not historical facts. These forward-looking
statements are based on the current expectations of Motorola, and there can be no assurance that
such expectations will prove to be correct. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not
limited to, our comments and answers relating to the following topics. Guidance for Motorola sales
and earnings for the second quarter of 2007; guidance for Motorolas profitability and operating
cash flow for the year 2007; expectations regarding the volume and impact of our stock repurchase
program; the impact on Motorolas performance and financial results from strategic acquisitions and
divestitures, including those that are recently completed, those that are pending and those that
may occur in the future; expectations for expenses, workforce reductions and financial impact
relating to the Companys ongoing reorganization activities; future sales, channel inventory,
profitability, operating earnings, operating margin, ASPs and the market share for each of
Motorolas segments; expected timing for the announcement, launch and shipment of new products; the
sales impact and pricing of new products; expected stock compensation expense, amortization of
intangibles, depreciation, effective tax rate, interest income, supplier strategy.
Because forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, Motorolas actual results could
differ materially from those stated in the forward-looking statements. Information about factors
that could cause such differences can be found in this mornings press release on pages 16 through
24 of Item 1A of Motorolas 2006 annual report on Form 10-K and in Motorolas other SEC filings.
This now concludes our call.
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude the conference call for today. We thank you for your
participation and ask that you please disconnect your lines.
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ADDITIONAL
INFORMATION AND WHERE TO FIND IT
While Motorola does not believe that this
communication constitutes solicitation material in respect of
Motorolas
solicitation of proxies in connection with its 2007
Annual Stockholders Meeting, this communication may be deemed
to be solicitation material. In connection with the solicitation of proxies,
Motorola has filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission
(the SEC) a definitive proxy statement on
March 15, 2007
(the Proxy Statement). THE
PROXY STATEMENT CONTAINS IMPORTANT
INFORMATION ABOUT MOTOROLA AND THE 2007 ANNUAL STOCKHOLDERS MEETING.
MOTOROLAS STOCKHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT
CAREFULLY.
On March 19, 2007,
Motorola began the process of mailing the Proxy Statement, together with a
WHITE proxy card. Stockholders may obtain additional free copies of the Proxy
Statement and other documents filed with the SEC by Motorola through the
website maintained by the SEC at www.sec.gov. The Proxy Statement and
other relevant documents may also be obtained free of charge from Motorola
by contacting Investor Relations in writing at Motorola, Inc., 1303 E. Algonquin
Road, Schaumburg, IL 60196; or by phone at 1-800-262-8509; or by email at
investors@motorola.com. The Proxy Statement is also available on
Motorolas website at www.motorola.com/investor.
The contents of the websites referenced above are not deemed to be
incorporated by reference into the Proxy Statement. In addition, copies of the
Proxy Statement may be requested contacting our proxy solicitor, D.F.
King & Co. Inc. by phone toll-free at 1-800-488-8095.
Motorola and its directors and executive
officers and other members of management and employees may be deemed to be
participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the 2007 Annual Stockholders Meeting.
You can find information about Motorolas executive officers and
directors in the Proxy Statement.
MOTOROLA STATEMENT
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Carl Icahn is new to Motorola, and to the industries in which we
operate, having first bought shares in late January. |
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Even Carl Icahn would admit that he is not technologically savvy,
or knowledgeable about our businesses. |
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Carl Icahn ignores the superior performance of Motorolas Networks
and Enterprise and Connected Homes businesses (collectively with
revenues of over $4 billion in the first quarter of 2007 alone). |
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The only Icahn suggestions to date have been with respect to his
misguided call for a large share repurchase program something
which Icahn himself now admits is not appropriate. |
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Carl Icahns suggestion that he be added to Motorolas Board to
hold management accountable and that Icahn alone not the Board
is capable of doing that is an unwarranted attack on the highly
qualified, dedicated, experienced and serious team of men and
women who serve on Motorolas Board. |
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The Motorola Board has always welcomed what Icahn calls fresh
perspectives but the Board is looking for additional
independent directors who have relevant experience, can supplement
the Boards existing strengths and have an interest in serving as
directors for a meaningful period of time. |
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Carl Icahn just does not meet those criteria Icahn is under informed about our
business and overcommitted elsewhere. |
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Icahn sits on as many as eight boards, and is chairman of at least four. |
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The Icahn offer if elected to the Motorola Board to reduce his other board positions
to less than six calls into question the seriousness with which Icahn treats any of his
commitments. |
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION AND WHERE TO FIND IT
This
communication may be deemed to be solicitation material in connection
with Motorolas solicitation of proxies for its 2007 Annual
Stockholders Meeting. Motorola has filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (the SEC) and mailed to stockholders a definitive proxy statement (the Proxy
Statement). THE PROXY STATEMENT CONTAINS IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT MOTOROLA AND THE 2007 ANNUAL
STOCKHOLDERS MEETING. MOTOROLAS STOCKHOLDERS ARE URGED TO READ THE PROXY STATEMENT CAREFULLY.
On March 19, 2007, Motorola began the process of mailing the Proxy Statement, together with a WHITE
proxy card. Stockholders may obtain additional free copies of the Proxy Statement and other
relevant documents filed with the SEC by Motorola through the website maintained by the SEC at
http://www.sec.gov. The Proxy Statement and other relevant documents may also be obtained free of
charge from Motorola by contacting Investor Relations in writing at Motorola, Inc., 1303 E.
Algonquin Road, Schaumburg, IL 60196; or by phone at 1-800-262-8509; or
by email at investors@motorola.com; The Proxy Statement is also available on Motorolas website at
http://www.motorola.com/investor. The contents of the websites referenced above are not deemed to
be incorporated by reference into the Proxy Statement. In addition, copies of the Proxy Statement
may be requested by contacting our proxy solicitor, D.F. King & Co., Inc. by phone toll-free at
1-800-488-8095.
Motorola and its directors and executive officers and other members of management and employees may
be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies in connection with the 2007 Annual
Stockholders Meeting. You can find information about Motorolas executive officers and directors
in the Proxy Statement.