Google was not the only major technology company to present its latest fiscal results. Microsoft, one of its major competitors, did as well, presenting a revenue of $20,500 million and a profit of $6,000 million .
The revenue generated by Microsoft were lower than the previous quarter, which is characterized by high sales in addition to the Christmas period. But it does indicate a significant increase over the same quarter last year, when Microsoft announced revenues $17,400 million. Comparing to previous periods, the $6,000 million represents a decrease of $400 million over the previous quarter, but a significant increase compared to this time last year, when Microsoft announced profits of $5,100 million.
A quick analysis of the different divisions of Microsoft shows that most of the revenue generated by the company come from its business section (Microsoft Business , which includes products such as Office), responsible for $6,300 million.
The second most important division in the first three months of 2013 was the Windows , with $5,700 million dollars in revenue, 23% more than a year ago but lower than in the previous quarter. This increase is due to the launch of Windows 8, although it is important to note that if one takes into account the feature Microsoft offers to promote the upgrade to its latest operating system we find a level of income that has hardly changed in recent months.
The Server and Tools section (Server & Tool Business) was the third largest, with revenues of $5,040 million. Online services, which include properties such as Bing, generated a turnover of $832 million dollars, although in global terms it again shed considerable losses, in this case $262 million.
Entertainment and devices (Entertainment & Devices) is another major Microsoft division. In the first quarter of the year, the division had revenues of more than $2,500 million, 56% more than the same period last year. This division of the company includes devices and services such as Surface, Xbox or Xbox Live. More importantly, Microsoft did not offer specific figures sales level for Surface, so we can imagine that has not been well received by consumers. Xbox Live was the main success for this division, reaching 46 million users, 18% more than a year ago.
The overall numbers of Microsoft have been good and better than most Wall Street analysts expected. The company is right now in a time of transition and has several fronts: Windows 8, which seemingly has not taken off; the entry into the world of Surface hardware, which does not seem to be working very well; and New Xbox, whose presentation may occur in less than a month.
Microsoft’s fiscal results have been accompanied also by the news that Peter Klein, who had been CFO (Chief Financial Officer) of the company in the last four years, is leaving the company. His replacement will be someone who is now working for company.
Source: http://www.microsoft.com/investor/earningsandfinancials/earnings/pressreleaseandwebcast/FY12/Q3/default.aspx
