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SAN FRANCISCO: Microsoft reported its profits surged 81 percent on
record-high revenues of $16.37 billion in the last three months of
2007 due to intense demand for computer software.
“Revenue of over $16 billion this quarter
exceeds our previous record by two billion,” said Microsoft chief
financial officer Chris Liddell.
“We are extremely pleased by the broad-based
strength of our business performance and field execution.”
Microsoft said its net income for the quarter
climbed to $4.7 billion, or 50 cents per share, as compared with
$2.6 billion, or 26 cents a share, in the same period a year
earlier.
The earnings topped expectations by Wall Street
analysts that forecast Microsoft would pull in 46 cents per share on
just shy of $16 billion in revenues in the final quarter of 2007.
Microsoft credited its new Windows Vista
operating system released a year ago with lifting sales in the
business and personal computer sectors.
“We are pleased with the progress of Windows
Vista in the market,” said Microsoft platforms and services
division president Kevin Johnson. “We’ve hit our stride with
partners and customers.”
The proclamation contrasts complaints from Vista
users that the new operating system is vexing and conflicts with
commonly-used software programs.
“Vista is a nightmare,” said Peter Hurme,
publisher of Marine Digest magazine based in Seattle, near
Microsoft’s headquarters in neighboring Redmond.
“I don’t know how conscious Microsoft is of
this because of its constant hubris in the marketplace.
Hurme is among those convinced that aversion to
Vista is reviving the popularity of the previous-generation
operating system, Windows XP.
“There are a lot of companies de-Vista-izing,
going back to XP,” said Hurme, whose company also does contract
publishing. “For us, as a publisher, it sucks.”
Demand for Microsoft software including Office,
Sharepoint, Exchange, and Vista remain strong, according to the US
software giant.
“We are in the midst of another strong year
with great momentum heading into calendar year 2008,” said
Microsoft chief operating officer Kevin Turner.
“We continue to see healthy demand from both
businesses and consumers in the United States and our growth in
emerging markets is especially strong.”
Among Microsoft offerings rolled out in the last
quarter of 2007 were new Zune MP3 players and upgrades to its
Windows Live Online services.
Microsoft also reported a jump in sales of its
Xbox 360 video game consoles during the year-end holiday shopping
season. Microsoft says it has sold 17.7 million of the consoles
since they debuted in November of 2005.
Unlike the many technology companies tempering
forecasts in the face of US economic woes, Microsoft raised its
estimate of how much money it expects to make by the time its fiscal
year ends June 30.
Liddell said Microsoft should bring in from
$59.9 to $60.5 billion in revenues for the year and report earnings
in the range of $1.85 to $1.88 per share.
“No company is immune from macro-economic
factors, but overall we think our company is extremely well
positioned in the tech industry,” Liddell said. “We actually
feel very optimistic.”
Liddell noted that 60 percent of last
quarter’s revenues came from outside the United States and that
company revenue streams included for-fee online services linked to
the Xbox 360 consoles in millions of homes.
Microsoft said its entertainment division, which
includes game consoles and software, is on track to be profitable
for the first time by the end of its fiscal year.
-- AFP
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