Motorola sales up 8 pct in 2011

U.S. telecommunications company Motorola Solutions announced Wednesday that total sales for 2011 were up 8 percent from last year, but 2011 fourth quarter net earnings were down 108 million U.S. dollars compared to a year ago. The company posted total sales of 2.3 billion U.S. dollars in the 2011 fourth quarter and 8.2 billion U.S. dollars for the 2011 year as a whole, representing increases of 5 percent and 8 percent respectfully over the 2010 data for the same periods. Motorola said that the revenue growth was driven by successes in both their government and enterprise segments, cities such as Atlanta and Saint Louis signing contracts with Motorola in 2011 while companies such as UPS also showing demand for Motorola products. However, despite the increase in sales, Motorola also saw a fall in 2011 fourth quarter profits with net earnings of only 184 million U.S. dollars, down from 292 million U.S. dollars in the fourth quarter of 2010. Nevertheless, Motorola\'s operating earnings for the 2011 year were actually up 14 percent, or 858 million U.S. dollars compared to 751 million U.S. dollars for the year 2010.