Shares of wireless technology companies fell on Friday as investors feared that a fourth-quarter warning from Motorola Inc. (NYSE:MOT - news), the No. 2 handset maker, signaled weakness industrywide.

Motorola shares were down 9 percent on the New York Stock Exchange after the company said it would miss revenue and profit views. Motorola chip supplier RF Micro Devices Inc (Nasdaq:RFMD - news) and wireless chip maker Broadcom Corp (Nasdaq:BRCM - news) were down nearly 4 percent.

Leading cell phone chip maker Texas Instruments Inc (NYSE:TXN - news) fell more than 1 percent, and its rival Qualcomm Inc (Nasdaq:QCOM - news) dropped nearly 2 percent. Handset leader Nokia (NYSE:NOK - news)(NOK1V.HE) saw its U.S. stock fall 5 percent.

Late on Thursday, Motorola cut its quarterly sales estimate to a range of $11.6 billion to $11.8 billion from its prior forecast of $11.8 billion to $12.1 billion.

But the company's estimate for 66 million phone sales in the quarter was above Wall Street expectations, implying that discounts were mostly to blame for the shortfall, according to analysts who viewed the warning as a omen of weakening profits for the entire industry.

"Product cycles are shortening while consumer fickleness is increasing, implying that overall industry operating margins are not likely to improve anytime soon," said RBC Capital Markets analyst Mark Sue.

Piper Jaffray analyst Michael Walkley slashed his estimate for Motorola's fourth-quarter operating margins to a range of 4 percent to 5 percent from 11 percent as after the warning.

"We believe it may take several quarters for Motorola to correct the sudden decline in its handset operating margins," said Walkley.

Motorola shares were down $1.85 at $18.70 in morning trade, while Nokia's U.S. stock had fallen $1 at $19.92. Texas Instruments shares were down 42 cents, or 1.4 percent, at $28.68.

Reuters