Motorola today posted a third quarter loss as revenue fell a steeper-than-expected 15 percent due to the continued troubles of its cell phone division.

The company also plans to delay the spin-off of its mobile device business, which was originally slated for third quarter 2009.

Motorola has been hit with a string of disappointments since late 2006, posting a net loss of $397 million compared with a profit of $40 million in the same period a year ago.

Sales fell 15 percent to $7.48 billion from $8.8 billion a year earlier.

The No. 3 mobile phone maker shipped 25.4 million phones in the quarter compared with shipments of 37.2 million phones a year earlier.

The cell phone unit lost $840 billion on $3.1 billion in revenue.

Sanjay Jha, who was appointed in August to lead the handset division, said the weak economy and stresses in the financial market were main reasons for the postponed spin-off. He said the unit was taking action to consolidate its product portfolio and become a leaner organization. The unit has been laying off thousands of employees this year.

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