Microsoft Corp produced a surprisingly strong quarter to start the year, pleasing investors looking forward to even bigger things from the software maker’s much-anticipated overhaul of Windows operating system next fall.
The results announcement on Thursday defied the conventional thinking that Microsoft would have trouble selling more Windows licenses as more people snapped up tablet computers, such as Apple Inc’s trendsetting iPad, while other prospective PC buyers delayed making their purchases until the next version of Microsoft’s operating system hits the market.
That didn’t turn out to be the case during the three months ending in March as revenue at Microsoft’s Windows division edged up 4 percent from last year to US$4.6 billion. Microsoft attributed the gain to an uptick in businesses who bought licenses for Windows 7. It marked only the second time in the past six quarters that Microsoft has registered a year-on-year gain in the Windows division.
“We’re driving toward exciting launches across the entire company, while delivering strong financial results,” Microsoft chief executive Steve Ballmer said.
High hopes are riding on the revamped system, Windows 8, because Microsoft designed it to run on devices that can be controlled by touch, as well as keyboards and computer mice.
That means Windows 8 can serve a dual purpose: It could help spur the development of sleeker PCs that spur more sales and also give Microsoft a chance to grab a piece of the rapidly growing tablet computer market.
Although Microsoft hasn’t announced a target date yet, most analysts believe Windows 8 will go on sale in September or October.
Microsoft earned US$5.1 billion, or US$0.60 per share, during the fiscal third quarter period. That was a 2 percent decline from net income of US$5.2 billion, or US$0.61 per share, a year ago.
Last year’s results were boosted by a tax benefit of US$461 million, or US$0.05 per share.
Revenue rose 6 percent from last year to US$17.4 billion.
While the Windows division held up better than expected, one of Microsoft’s recent strongholds weakened. The deterioration occurred in the entertainment division as Microsoft’s shipments of its Xbox 360 video game console plunged nearly 50 percent to 1.4 million units.
The sagging demand occurred as more people are playing games on phones and tablet computers. Revenue in the entertainment division declined 16 percent from last year to US$1.6 billion.
Microsoft’s long-suffering online division, which has struggled for years to compete against Internet search leader Google Inc, managed to narrow its losses in the quarter ending March.
The division, which includes its Bing search engine, posted an operating loss of US$479 million compared with a loss of US$776 million at the same time last year. Microsoft’s online revenue totaled US$707 million, a 6 percent increase. By comparison, Google’s revenue during the same period surged 24 percent.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
TRANSFORMATION: Taiwan is now home to the largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, thanks to the nation’s economic policies President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday attended an event marking the opening of Google’s second hardware research and development (R&D) office in Taiwan, which was held at New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋). This signals Taiwan’s transformation into the world’s largest Google hardware research and development center outside of the US, validating the nation’s economic policy in the past eight years, she said. The “five plus two” innovative industries policy, “six core strategic industries” initiative and infrastructure projects have grown the national industry and established resilient supply chains that withstood the COVID-19 pandemic, Tsai said. Taiwan has improved investment conditions of the domestic economy
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day