Motorola Inc. on Thursday reported a profit in the fourth quarter of 2009 beating the analysts' speculations, triggered by strict cost controls and strong sales of its new smartphones such as the Droid.

The company posted net income of $142 million or 6 cents a share in the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with a loss of $3.7 billion, or $1.61 a share, a year ago. The revenue fell almost 20% to $5.72 billion from $7.14 billion.

Also, Motorola, which is forecasting the future of its mobile phone business on Android, claimed that it sold 2 million smartphones in the quarter, exceeding Wall St estimates.

Adjusted for onetime items, Motorola said it would have earned 9 cents a share. The company was projected to earn 8 cents a share on revenue of $5.98 billion, according to a poll of analysts by FactSet Research.

The mobile sector witnessed a 22% decline in revenue to $1.8 billion, despite positive performance in the handset business. It reported an operating loss of $132 million, but that far less than the year-ago loss of $595 million.

Meanwhile, Motorola's Enterprise Mobility division registered a 12% slip in sales to $2 billion compared to the year-earlier quarter. Operating income fell to $368 million from $466 million.

However, its Home and Networks business witnessed a 24% reduction in sales to $2.0 billion, while operating income squeezed to $91 million from $257 million a year earlier.