Microsoft ended its fiscal year with record revenue and stellar profit as businesses snapped out of the malaise of the economic crisis and began updating computer gear.
Microsoft on Thursday reported a US$4.52 billion profit on revenue of US$16.04 billion in its fourth quarter, which ended on June 30.
“This quarter’s record revenue reflects the breadth of our offerings and our continued product momentum,” Microsoft chief financial officer Peter Klein said.
Microsoft credited the strong sales figures in part to the successful launch of its latest-generation Office 2010 software and to continued strong demand for its new Windows 7 operating system.
The popularity of its Xbox 360 videogame consoles and Bing’s improving share of the Internet search market also contributed to the successful final quarter of its fiscal year.
“We saw strong sales execution across all of our businesses, particularly in the enterprise with Windows 7 and Office 2010,” chief operating officer Kevin Turner said. “We look forward to continuing our product momentum this fall with the upcoming launches of Windows Phone 7 and Xbox Kinect.”
Kinect is an Xbox 360 accessory that lets people use natural gestures or body movements to command on-screen action.
Microsoft said it finished the fiscal year with record-high revenue of US$62.48 billion and profit of US$18.76 billion, or US$2.10 per share.
“It’s been a great fiscal year and an outstanding fourth quarter,” Klein said.
He added that Microsoft was encouraged by the resurgence of computer purchases by businesses that had shunned upgrading technology while riding out the global financial chaos.
The Microsoft division handling business products had record revenue in the final fiscal quarter and the “resurgence of the refresh cycle” was expected to continue through the coming year.
Windows 7 has become the fastest-selling operating system and is already running more than 15 percent of personal computers worldwide, according to Klein.
Microsoft said that emerging markets, such as China, where the company makes less money off its products were the “significant drivers” of the PC market.
Bing has gained market share for 13 consecutive months, earning over 4 percent since its launch in June last year, according to Microsoft executives. Online advertising revenue grew 19 percent during the recently ended quarter.
Klein assured analysts that Microsoft will continue to keep a lid on costs, signaling that the company is treading cautiously when it comes to the global technology market’s revival.
“Business spending has picked up,” said analyst Matt Rosoff of private firm Directions On Microsoft, which tracks the Redmond, Washington-based technology colossus.
“Microsoft is back to being the steady, profitable company everybody knew a couple of years ago,” the analyst said.
Microsoft killed its freshly launched line of Kin smartphones on the last day of the fiscal year, pushing about US$200 million of loss into this year.
“That isn’t a whole lot of money in Microsoft terms, but it is sort of a debacle if you look at it on its own,” Rosoff said of Kin’s demise. “It is good they got that failure behind them.”
MORE VISITORS: The Tourism Administration said that it is seeing positive prospects in its efforts to expand the tourism market in North America and Europe Taiwan has been ranked as the cheapest place in the world to travel to this year, based on a list recommended by NerdWallet. The San Francisco-based personal finance company said that Taiwan topped the list of 16 nations it chose for budget travelers because US tourists do not need visas and travelers can easily have a good meal for less than US$10. A bus ride in Taipei costs just under US$0.50, while subway rides start at US$0.60, the firm said, adding that public transportation in Taiwan is easy to navigate. The firm also called Taiwan a “food lover’s paradise,” citing inexpensive breakfast stalls
TRADE: A mandatory declaration of origin for manufactured goods bound for the US is to take effect on May 7 to block China from exploiting Taiwan’s trade channels All products manufactured in Taiwan and exported to the US must include a signed declaration of origin starting on May 7, the Bureau of Foreign Trade announced yesterday. US President Donald Trump on April 2 imposed a 32 percent tariff on imports from Taiwan, but one week later announced a 90-day pause on its implementation. However, a universal 10 percent tariff was immediately applied to most imports from around the world. On April 12, the Trump administration further exempted computers, smartphones and semiconductors from the new tariffs. In response, President William Lai’s (賴清德) administration has introduced a series of countermeasures to support affected
CROSS-STRAIT: The vast majority of Taiwanese support maintaining the ‘status quo,’ while concern is rising about Beijing’s influence operations More than eight out of 10 Taiwanese reject Beijing’s “one country, two systems” framework for cross-strait relations, according to a survey released by the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) on Thursday. The MAC’s latest quarterly survey found that 84.4 percent of respondents opposed Beijing’s “one country, two systems” formula for handling cross-strait relations — a figure consistent with past polling. Over the past three years, opposition to the framework has remained high, ranging from a low of 83.6 percent in April 2023 to a peak of 89.6 percent in April last year. In the most recent poll, 82.5 percent also rejected China’s
PLUGGING HOLES: The amendments would bring the legislation in line with systems found in other countries such as Japan and the US, Legislator Chen Kuan-ting said Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Legislator Chen Kuan-ting (陳冠廷) has proposed amending national security legislation amid a spate of espionage cases. Potential gaps in security vetting procedures for personnel with access to sensitive information prompted him to propose the amendments, which would introduce changes to Article 14 of the Classified National Security Information Protection Act (國家機密保護法), Chen said yesterday. The proposal, which aims to enhance interagency vetting procedures and reduce the risk of classified information leaks, would establish a comprehensive security clearance system in Taiwan, he said. The amendment would require character and loyalty checks for civil servants and intelligence personnel prior to
RSS