As Brian White discussed in his earnings preview, analysts had been expecting to see another disastrous quarter for Motorola Inc. (NYSE: MOT) and this morning's earnings figures confirmed those expectations. The cell phone maker reported that its fourth-quarter profit plunged 84%, hurt by weak wireless phones sales and a deep loss in its handset division.

Net profit sank to $100 million, or 4 cents per share, down from $623 million, or 25 cents, a year earlier. Net profit from continuing operations was 5 cents. Included in the company's numbers were charges of 9 cents related to asset write-downs, layoffs and a legal settlement.

Excluding one-time items, Motorola would have earned 14 cents, a penny above analysts' expectations.

Motorola also posted a decline in its quarterly sales which slipped to $9.65 billion from $11.79 billion a year earlier. Analysts forecast a revenue of $9.6 billion for the quarter, according to Thomson Financial.

Looking ahead, Greg Brown, Motorola's Chief Executive, believes it "will take longer than expected" to recover its mobile devices business. The company's target will aim at an improved profitability and enhanced product portfolio.

Looking ahead, the company's outlook is not too optimistic for the first-quarter. The company forecast a loss per share from continuing operations of 5 cents to 7 cents, before any reorganization charges. Analysts, on average, were expecting current-quarter earnings of 9 cents per share.

For the past year, Motorola has been losing market share to rivals. The cell phone maker fell into third place globally, hurt by the lack of popular handsets, especially in Europe. The company also named recently a new chief executive, Greg Brown, following criticism of Motorola's phone line up and its lack of a popular successor to the Razr phone.

In the premarket, early morning traders have pushed shares of the stock down almost 17%, to $10.24, down $2.08.

Eliza Popescu is a financial writer for the online investment advisory service Investor's Observer.