Microsoft first-quarter income down 18 percent, still beats expectations
By Nilay Patel 
posted October 23rd 2009 11:17AM
posted October 23rd 2009 11:17AM
Microsoft just turned in its first quarter financial report card, and while the good vibes around Windows 7 launch haven't yet begun to fade, the numbers here aren't exactly cheery: revenue is down 14 percent from last year at $12.92b, operating income is down 25 percent at $4.48b, net income is down 18 percent at $3.57b, and earnings per share are down 17 percent at $0.40. Not wonderful, but it's better than analysts were expecting, and the stock is actually way up on the news. Adding in the deferred revenue from early sales of Windows 7 makes things look a little better still, with only a four percent decline in revenue and an eight percent increase in earnings per share, and the Entertainment and Devices Division -- home of the Xbox 360 and Zune HD -- is also a bright spot, increasing income from $159m to $312m on essentially unchanged revenue. Of course, the big test will actually be next quarter, after Windows 7 has really had a chance to make an impact -- we'll see if all these warm fuzzies translate into cold hard cash.
I just press the report button, sac =|...
With all due respect, sir, but Microsoft is way bigger than Apple, has a more global presence in consumer and business fields (which makes global recession more of an impact), has more capital investment into prospecting and expansion, and has more letters in its name.
In conclusion, you can't see Apple from Space, while Microsoft is fully visible and recognizable.
At least that is my opinion. Feel free to leave a comment after the click.
@Major4Play:
Really?
And here I was wondering what happened to Paul Chapel. Now I know.
I was under the impression the report button was for spammers... not anyone you disagree with.
agreement?
Lol what hollow words. Equate to spam.
No, you're a douche bag link spammer, just like the piece of sh!t a couple posts below yours, and just like the fu@ktards who post adds for online shoe stores.
So, in conclusion, please fu@k off.
So Engadget, care to tell us what words are now censored from posts.
That one failed to post several times, until I added some strategic punctuation. Then it worked first time. Coincidence, or conspiracy?
Trolls = Spammers in my book.
@ Detox
What was Apples RECORD!?!?!? profits again? You were posting those numbers all over the place. I thought so...Stick to comedy bro
SP
Apple closed at $203+ a share yesterday on Windows 7 opening day. I like those numbers.
Microsoft is still a way bigger company than Apple.
AAPL market cap: $184 bn
MSFT market cap:$253 bn
Share price obviously means quite little.
Also, MSFT +6.67% (now), AAPL -0.33% now
For the last 5 years, AAPL up 600%, MSFT down few percent.
See the trend?
How much time before AAPL with its 5% market share in computers and 3% market share overall in mobile phones (and thus huge opportunity to grow) becomes bigger than MSFT? 2 years? 1? less?
And how much software would they lose to pirates if only they asked more reasonable prices. Windows 7 costs entirely too much.
Wow. That was was weak.
I apparently can't form sentences today. I wish there was a delete button.
The important thing is, he tried.
Wow. Delusional much?
Try this: "“They are trapped in their own psychosis that the world has to revolve around Windows on the PC,” says Marc Benioff, the C.E.O. of Salesforce.com, which competes against Microsoft in the business software market. “Until they stop doing that, they will drag their company into the gutter.”
Or this: "“We are the next generation,” says Dave Girouard, the president of Google’s business products division. “The big difference in technology here is the pace of innovation.”
You might like this better: "“They (Microsoft) are not the company they once were in terms of market position,” says Bruce R. Chizen, a former Microsoft employee and former C.E.O. of Adobe Systems, the publishing software maker. “They no longer have a monopoly that is critical to the future of computing.”
Smoke this: "“This used to be the company (Microsoft) that everyone looked to for innovation and excitement,” says James R. Gregory, the chief executive of CoreBrand, a brand consulting company. “It has lost that edginess in a fairly convincing way.”
Let's hear from Steve: "“We were trying to do too much change in too rapid a fashion,” Mr. Ballmer says. “And so, for me the issue isn’t that we know how to make hardware and software work together and the like. The question there was I think we attempted too much.”
Halloween is just around the corner: "“They got scared,” says Bryan Trussel, a former Microsoft executive and now head of Glympse, a mobile software start-up. “I think they get it now, but the question is how far behind they are.”
Wall Street would like to chime in now as well: "“I am willing to give the present management (Ballmer) another 15 months,” says Ms. Dicks-Riley at the investment firm.
Well, there is a ray of sunlight for those who are still living in the past: "“They (Microsoft) won’t fade away as long as there are PCs,” Mr. Benioff says. “But they are not delivering the future of our industry, either.”
Have a great day (and night) keeping busy with that clean install from XP!
[-] and a [!] for you sir!
opinions and padded diatribes ftw? Man, Ballmer isn't the only one attemping too much...
The Zune HD hasn´t been around that long and Windows 7 seems to be what Vista should have been all along.
Those products should definitely make a difference in the quarterly reports after these.
Wow do you realize we are looking at the very real possibility that MS revenues could be passed by Apple's in the next few quarters.
People will forget all about Dell being passed by Acer.
That may be good for MS as the resulting shit storm should finally oust Ballmer aka Monkey Boy. The fact is no one on wall street cares if you making money only if your making more money. If this happen I see MS stock dropping 20% in a day Its all about perception.
Prediction: by this time next year Apple will be ahead of Microsoft on quarterly revenue. Being ahead on profit will follow a year or two later (since Microsoft gets such high licensing revenue with almost no production costs its easier to maintain high margins).
As far as I can tell at best Microsoft is treading water in place, at worst its slowly sinking like IBM in the 90s. They need to either find a new business they can make headway into (beating google at search, IBM/Oracle at business services or Apple/Sony/Nintendo at gadgets probably isn't in the cards) or they'll be one of those companies we learn about only in history class like Standard Oil.
Your Profile Pic makes my night, for the record.
Now on to Rainbow 6 Vegas 2 before downtown