S&P Announces Motorola JNKR

Today brought with it nasty news for Motorola. Standard & Poor’s slashed its corporate credit rating on the long-suffering handset maker, noting that the company’s troubled mobile business is likely to continue what is already a two-year downward slide. “Revenues and profits in the first part of the year will be challenged by a narrower, somewhat-dated product portfolio,” S&P’s Bruce Hyman said in a statement. “Standard & Poor’s also expects about 10 percent fewer handsets to be sold worldwide in 2009 at lower average prices than in 2008.”

An ugly blow for Motorola (MOT). With the economy in a deadspin and stronger rivals like Nokia (NOK) lowering handset sale expectations, things are looking decidedly bleak for the company.