Motorola Inc Chief Executive Officer Ed Zander defeated a challenge by billionaire investor activist Carl Icahn, who on Monday night lost a bid for a seat on the mobile-phone company's board.

After a three-month campaign, Motorola said preliminary results show Icahn's nomination failed to win enough support from shareholders. The final tally may take a few weeks, the company said in a statement late on Monday.

The outcome gives Zander more time to unveil new phones and return Motorola to profitability after a drop in market share last quarter led to its first loss in almost three years. The world's second-largest mobile-phone maker still faces complaints that Zander isn't turning the business around fast enough, Bloomberg News said.

"The pressure remains on Motorola," said Brad Williams, a technology analyst at MTB Investment Advisors in Baltimore, which manages 11 billion U.S. dollars, including Motorola shares. "They won't have that outside pressure trying to influence the organization, but they've got plenty of challenges ahead of themselves."

Icahn may have won enough support from investors to keep the vote close. That would be a blow to Zander, who says the current management is better equipped to revive sales and boost the stock price. The "jury is still out" on Zander, and his team has until the end of this year to revive the company, Icahn said on Monday.

"We gave them a wake-up call," Icahn said in an interview after the meeting. He plans to keep his 2.9 percent stake in Motorola.

Shares of Schaumburg, Illinois-based Motorola have lost 12 percent of their value this year after dropping 9 percent in 2006. They were unchanged at 18.08 U.S dollars in New York Stock Exchange composite trading on Monday.

Icahn told shareholders gathered for the event in Chicago that he probably lost the contest because fewer big funds voted for him. Two or three large holders swayed the balance, he said. Mostly small funds supported his election, Icahn said.

Icahn's campaign was hurt by the lack of a detailed recovery plan, said investors including Michael Price, president of MFP Investors LLC. Those views were echoed by Glass, Lewis & Co, a proxy advisory firm, which recommended shareholders vote against Icahn because his plan for improving Motorola's performance was "short on details."