Google’s costly first steps into hardware: Motorola Mobility posts record $US233 million quarterly loss

Google’s first steps into the hardware business are proving costly, with recently acquired Motorola Mobility division posting a record quarterly loss of $US233 million.

According to Phone Arena, the result compares to a $US285 million loss for the whole of fiscal year 2011.

The loss includes $US192 million on mobile handsets and $US41 million for home devices, although Google is downplaying the size of the losses, attributing them in large part to “accounting noise”.

The news comes after former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt revealed Google’s long-term ambitions in hardware, recently stating:  “Larry [Page] and Sergey [Brin] have always wanted to do hardware in one form or another. This [Motorola Mobility takeover] was a way to get into it quickly.”

Google’s $US12.5 billion takeover of Motorola Mobility, first announced in August last year, was finally completed in May after several months of negotiations with regulators.