Today, Motorola announced it beat expectations and rode strong fourth quarter sales to regain the No. 2 position from Samsung. Spearheaded by the RAZR V3, Motorola released a massive 20 phone portfolio resulting in a 34% increase in fourth-quarter profits; solidifying its position behind Nokia.

Samsung had temporarily overtaken Motorola as the second-largest mobile phone maker two quarters ago; however it recently saw its handset margins squeezed by higher marketing costs and a price war launched by Finnish rival Nokia.

But Samsung is not taking it lying down. It expects margins to bounce back this quarter as it sells new models at higher prices. Recently Samsung released its 2005 portfolio line-up, focusing heavily on integrating its phones with innovative functionality such as speech-to-text, two megapixel cameras, video and music on-demand, and wi-fi technology.

Meanwhile Motorola has chosen to focus on partnerships among a recent flurry of agreements with Apple, Burton, and Oakley; pushing towards integration between cell phones, music, and apparel.