Microsoft Corp. on Thursday posted strong quarterly earnings in its fourth fiscal quarter, with profit and revenue beating expectations from Wall Street analysts.
For the quarter ending June 30, the world's largest software maker reported a net income of 5.87 billion U.S. dollars, or 69 cents per share, representing an increases of 30 percent and 35 percent respectively when compared with the year-ago period.
Revenue for the quarter was 17.37 billion dollars, up by 8 percent from the same period a year earlier.
Wall Street analysts had expected a profit of 58 cents per share on a revenue of 17.23 billion dollars, according to Thomson Reuters.
For the whole fiscal year, Microsoft reported a record revenue of 69.94 billion dollars, a 12-percent increase from the prior fiscal year. The net income for the year was 23.15 billion dollars, accounting for an increase of 23 percent.
Among its business sectors, Microsoft Business Division revenue grew 7 percent for the fourth quarter and 16 percent for the full year. Over 100 million licenses of office 2010 have been sold so far, said the company.
Primarily driven by growth in search revenue, the company's on- line services division revenue grew 17 percent for the fourth quarter and 15 percent for the full year. U.S. search share of Microsoft's search engine Bing increased 340 basis points year- over-year.
Microsoft said revenue of its entertainment and devices division grew by 30 percent for the quarter and 45 percent for the year.
However, Windows and Windows Live revenue declined by 1 percent for the fourth quarter and decreased by 2 percent for the full year. Microsoft said estimated full-year revenue growth for the Windows division was in line with the sluggish PC market growth.
The revenue decline in Microsoft's Windows business is noticeable amid worries from some investors and industry watchers about the current personal computer market. The increasing popularity of tablet computers such as Apple's iPad is also believed to be threatening the sales of traditional PCs that run on Microsoft software.
According to research firm Gartner, global PC sales grew only 2. 3 percent over the second quarter with shipments falling in mature markets like the United States.
On Wednesday, Paul Otellini, chief executive officer of chip maker Intel, said that the mature market consumer segment is still soft and cut the 2011 PC growth projection under double digits.
In addition to the adoption of tablets, the growing market for web-based software services has posed a new challenge for Microsoft, as it was built up on expensive software on personal computers.
Last month, Microsoft revamped its Office lineup with an online version, which enables users to get access to the software on any devices as long as they have Internet connections.
For the quarter ending June 30, the world's largest software maker reported a net income of 5.87 billion U.S. dollars, or 69 cents per share, representing an increases of 30 percent and 35 percent respectively when compared with the year-ago period.
Revenue for the quarter was 17.37 billion dollars, up by 8 percent from the same period a year earlier.
Wall Street analysts had expected a profit of 58 cents per share on a revenue of 17.23 billion dollars, according to Thomson Reuters.
For the whole fiscal year, Microsoft reported a record revenue of 69.94 billion dollars, a 12-percent increase from the prior fiscal year. The net income for the year was 23.15 billion dollars, accounting for an increase of 23 percent.
Among its business sectors, Microsoft Business Division revenue grew 7 percent for the fourth quarter and 16 percent for the full year. Over 100 million licenses of office 2010 have been sold so far, said the company.
Primarily driven by growth in search revenue, the company's on- line services division revenue grew 17 percent for the fourth quarter and 15 percent for the full year. U.S. search share of Microsoft's search engine Bing increased 340 basis points year- over-year.
Microsoft said revenue of its entertainment and devices division grew by 30 percent for the quarter and 45 percent for the year.
However, Windows and Windows Live revenue declined by 1 percent for the fourth quarter and decreased by 2 percent for the full year. Microsoft said estimated full-year revenue growth for the Windows division was in line with the sluggish PC market growth.
The revenue decline in Microsoft's Windows business is noticeable amid worries from some investors and industry watchers about the current personal computer market. The increasing popularity of tablet computers such as Apple's iPad is also believed to be threatening the sales of traditional PCs that run on Microsoft software.
According to research firm Gartner, global PC sales grew only 2. 3 percent over the second quarter with shipments falling in mature markets like the United States.
On Wednesday, Paul Otellini, chief executive officer of chip maker Intel, said that the mature market consumer segment is still soft and cut the 2011 PC growth projection under double digits.
In addition to the adoption of tablets, the growing market for web-based software services has posed a new challenge for Microsoft, as it was built up on expensive software on personal computers.
Last month, Microsoft revamped its Office lineup with an online version, which enables users to get access to the software on any devices as long as they have Internet connections.
