Microsoft reports $6.66b Q1 net profit, Windows 7 'fastest selling OS in history'
By Ross Miller 
posted January 28th 2010 6:12PM
posted January 28th 2010 6:12PM
Microsoft's gotta be pretty happy with its second quarter results, especially after two previous quarters of somewhat downtrodden reports. The company's posting a record $19.02 billion in revenue, a 14 percent increase year-over-year. Net income / profit was $6.66 billion. Buoyed by all that is $1.71 billion in deferred revenue for Windows 7 pre-sales, which in laymen's terms means money the company made before the fiscal quarter began but couldn't then claim it because the product (Windows 7) hadn't yet been delivered to the consumer. Speaking of the platform, Microsoft is claiming to now have "the fastest selling operating system in history" with 60 million licenses sold. A much better way for the gang in Redmond to the start the year, so now let's see how the rest of 2010 plays out.
yeah but they still took our stimulus money to help pay for a bridge they could have paid for themselves .fuk micro$oft
By Steve Jobs' logic this makes Microsoft the worlds biggest mobile device company, their income is greater than apples 15 billion and microsoft make mobile devices! (zune)
@Bratyr But Steve was talking about profits made from mobile devices. Microsoft might be able to beat just about anybody in losses on mobile devices. If they keep throwing money down that special "Zune hole" of theirs.
I'd need to check my facts first though...
@RabidAppleFanboi
He clearly quoted apples ENTIRE revenue, then said it was bigger than the revenue of these companies who sell mobile devices therefore apple is the biggest mobile devices company, never mind that they also sell a hell of a lot of non-mobile devices too. It's also quite dishonest to use the fact that your entire company is bigger than Nokia to say you're bigger than them in the phone market when nokia just makes phones (with the odd, not really relevant exception) while apple makes desktops, laptops, mp3 players and phones.
@Bratyr
nono, you missed it, Apple asserted that pretty much everything they make is a mobile device company because their three most important products are Macbook, iPhone, iPod, and now iPad.
MS has exactly two important products Windows and Office, and ... let me check... ur... yeah, that's software.
@Wesscoast
And they got it wrong, the last Nokia revenue figure is 17.75 billion dollars compared to apples 15.6 billion dollars. Theres only about a weeks difference in figures, so apple is still number 2 in mobile devices. Maybe apple is bitter about not being the worlds biggest mp3 player manufacturer anymore. It's been Nokia for years.
Btw. Apple makes desktop machiines for 1.6 billion. You can hardly call them portable.
And if you want to bunch up all company apple will dwarf compared to the Samsung chaebol with 175 billion yearly revenue.
What gets viruses windows or leopard?
@logic thinker
Both, if you're an idiot.
@logic thinker Logic thinker just got owned like a street corner whore by her pimp. LOL.
Typically, a version of software will sell really well if most people were staying 2 versions behind because the previous revision had a bad reputation for sucking.
@zullnero Then watch out for iPad 3.0!
@jin and guice NOW WITH EXTRA FLOW PROTECTION!
only the fastest selling OS because everyone was trying to get rid of crappy vista..
Great for Microsoft, Motorola and of course apple. This are signs that our economy is finally coming to a recovery.
yay Microsoft!!!!
wait a sec, isn't that a sign if a 100 was a multiple of that 6.66 or do accounts like the triple 6 figures
the title caught my attention with the numbers 666 with Microsoft
Just installed Windows 7 on my laptop last night. I can see why it's sold so well.
If Windows 7 was as bad as Vista these numbers would have been much different. Kudos to Microsoft.
7 gets the job done but there's a lot of blame to go around for the successful profits. Foremost, MSFT is embedded. The business out of the box sector needs the os to stay connected to the old infrastructure. The economy has stalled any ballsy moves to make a full upgrade to a new non-windows system based on Linux or mac. Its the up charge of the tech support that keeps the masses in the comfort zone. Try adding up a full on switch over to a mac based office system or even a move to linux. The hardware would be the upfront cost but the real nut to chew is the top tier network tech support that's slim pickins and priced accordingly. MS did a great job and caught probably their last big wave. Watch out, here comes the cloud...
@vandrook.
I disagree. for corporate environments right now windows has something that other os's dont have. Its called group policy . Until linux or apple has something as powerfull and as easy to use they wont be as big.
I can change a security setting to hundreds of machines in 2 min
@majortom1981
Linux has lots of infrastructure like this. None of it is idiot proof or close to idiot proof like Windows.
There's a reason even microsoft runs linux or BSD on their servers.
@M3
"There's a reason even microsoft runs linux or BSD on their servers. "
Except that they don't.
I'm just jealous I can't swim in either Bill or Steve's Scrooge McDuck vault.
You know something... Windows XP was the fastest selling OS after the fiasco that was ME... Maybe Vista was designed to be crappy just so 7 would sell like hotcakes. Perhaps this is MS's new marketing strategy. Make an OS that sucks so people will be more please with a slightly less sucky OS later. Seems to work!
Two major innovators and neither one can render the Internet properly.
iPad can't show Flash and MS IE, ...well IE has always been a non-compliant heartache for web developers.
Come on you guys, spend a little of that cash and get it right!
People must want to get away from Vista pretty badly.
@jordanbiffle But clearly not enough to switch to Apple and OSX.
Awesome. More power to you folks in the future OS's which i hope is gonna be much better.
Hey were are all the iTards screeching about MS impending demise? Oh right. They are in a dark corner waking off the iPad photos.
This goes to prove that selling things that work can do wonders for your bottom line.
Kudos to Microsoft.
My wish is that Microsoft picks up in the Mobile Phone / Smartphone market, too. With a big bang in windows mobile devices.
Malick
www.committedexpertise.com
$6.66 billion in profits. That's not a number I would be touting, Lol. I'd call Gates and have him throw in a bit more and bump it up to $6.67b.
OS of the Beast
When you look at comment pages like these, you realise that Human Beings are always going to be at war with each other.
It is a biological deficiency built into Man.
@Mingepotato A total non sequitur, but I agree completely.
windows 7 is an excellent OS and it runs really well and fast on my 4 year old HP Tablet PC.
Excellent work by MS on this one!
Of course this is the fastest selling OS in history. Is this really any surprise considering what a disaster Vista was. MS could have re-packaged XP and it would have become the fastest selling OS in history.
That marketing strategy was really good. Im not surprised. Apple isnt the only one who can whore their product out like crazy.
Way to claim fame, ought to be apologizing for your past tactics. For how much their last OS was forced upon indoctrinated buyers while being a POS I have no doubt that those same buyers scrambled to upgrade. If only for their sanity. With DirectX11, many gamers were forced to upgrade from XP also. 7 is a good OS, but the reasons it sold so well are kinda nefarious. Be more humble Microsoft.
It's easy to sell an operating system when everyone was hurrying to upgrade from the previous one.
sure! Dominate the Personal Computer market, release a line of reputably good OS's, then screw your customers over so bad that they'll want to either
a)buy a mac (which many wont do)
b)buy the next OS compatible with their system
Congrats to you MS just hope next time when you make a new OS make sure you DON'T rush it out. Windows 7 is perfectly fine.