Motorola's fourth-quarter earnings spotlight just how bad things are at the maker of cell phones and networking equipment. It posted a loss that amounts to a staggering $3.6 billion. Motorola used to be the master of the mobile domain. Now, it is teetering on the edge of the abyss to obscurity. Can anything save the Razr maker?Two weeks ago, Motorola announced a massive round of layoffs, totaling some 4,000 job cuts. The layoffs are part of a plan to save the company $1.5 billion this year. Considering the continued quarterly losses at Motorola, its needs every dollar it can hold onto.

Trying to make the best of what is otherwise a bad report, Motorola highlighted some of the company's good news from the fourth quarter. This includes the launch of 15 new phones, roll-outs of luxury phones, and a touch-screen phone, as well as progress on its next-generation set of products to be introduced by the end of the year.

But sales were down 51% compared with the year-ago quarter. That's a huge drop-off. Where did all of Motorola's customers go? The iPhone, the G1, the Bold, the Storm, and myriad other devices that are fresher, funner, and more cutting edge. Motorola's Razr has dulled considerably, and the tired, Razr-esque design language that the company has used for what seems like an eternity no longer connects with customers.

At this point, many must be questioning the firm's viability. Co-CEO Sanjay Jha said of the results, "We continue to take appropriate action to address the downturn in the global economy as well as the challenges related to our current Mobile Devices portfolio. We are aggressively developing innovative new products, and we are encouraged by the positive customer feedback on our smartphone road map."

The problem is, Motorola should have been aggressively pursuing innovative new products 12 to 18 months ago. Based on the current line-up of Motorola devices available the world over, it didn't.

Who's to blame for this? What led management to believe that it could rest on its laurels and past successes while the market surged ahead with advanced devices? I don't envy Jha's job at the moment. The road to recovery will be a long one.

We can only hope that the "smartphone road map" Jha speaks of includes devices running Android and/or Windows Mobile if it truly wants to compete with the likes of the Pre, the iPhone, the Storm, and others.

Can Motorola turn itself around? Let's hope so. Otherwise, we might be writing Motorola's obituary in a year's time.