Microsoft declared its quarterly revenue results on Thursday: $16.01 billion revenue generated which includes $5.31 billion profit out of the whole revenue. Company reported that at the same time last year the profit was $7.2 billion which was 22% more than this quarter’s profit.
By division, $3.24 billion in total revenue is through Windows, which is down by 33 percent from last quarter’s revenue. Cloud services, Server and tools are the only two divisions which shows an increase in revenue year-over-year with nine and eight percent rise in profit respectively.
These smaller numbers are may be because of the fact that many of Microsoft’s leadership products are yet to be launched in the coming months. Also, this might be the case that customers could be waiting eagerly for the launch of those new products before making a final decision to buy Microsoft’s products.
Windows 8 is set to be launched on Oct. 26 and Windows Phone 8 which is the updated version of its current smartphones OS, will follow shortly after Windows 8 launch.
Microsoft disclosed the pricing and availability of its Windows Surface RT earlier this week. The 10.6-inch gadget will be available at $499 for the 32GB version along with the signature keypad cover which costs an additional $129 for the version with real keypad.
& $119 for the touch version
“Investors were not expecting a home run. All expectations are on the launch of Windows 8 and the entrance into the tablet market,” said Daniel Ives, analyst at FBR Capital Markets. “In light of the environment, the macro and PC situation, these are respectable numbers.”
Given that Windows 8 has been designed by Microsoft keeping tablets in mind, there is some sense to this. Most of the gadget lovers are looking to purchase a new device having software already installed; if you buy it in a box, you can probably only install the operating system on a desktop machine. Even Microsoft expects tablets to outsell desktops in the coming years.
From Microsoft’s division breakdown report: “Windows 8 pre-sales revenue 40% higher than Windows 7 in comparative launch quarter.”
The real test for Microsoft will be how well its much awaited Windows 8 sells when it will be made available in 8 days, which can bring some sort of good news for Microsoft in terms of revenue. This quarter’s revenue loss will be quickly forgotten if Windows 8 will suceed in filling the hole left behind by declining Windows 7 popularity.
