Microsoft Q3 results: 1.4 million 360s sold, Entertainment division revenue down year-over-year
Despite being the number one best-selling console in America for fifteen months running, the 360's success wasn't enough to prevent Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division from being the only section of the company to post a year-over-year decline in revenue during the third quarter of fiscal 2012.
The Entertainment and Devices Division, which includes Microsoft's gaming businesses and the Windows Phone platform, finished the period ending on March 31, 2012 with $1.62 billion in revenue – a 16 percent drop over the same period in fiscal 2011. During Q3 2012, Microsoft sold 1.4 million 360s, a 48 percent drop year-over-year.
When the entirety of fiscal 2012 is taken into account, however, the Entertainment and Devices Division is actually up as far as revenue is concerned: $7.84 billion so far in fiscal 2012 as compared to $7.42 billion by this time in fiscal 2011. The devision's operation income, on the other hand, is down year-over-year, posting at $627 million for the first nine months of fiscal 2012, compared to $1.24 billion for this time last year.
Otherwise, Microsoft's Q3 performance was strong across all fronts: Overall quarterly revenue rang up at $17.41 billion, a six percent increase over Q3 2011, with a business-wide operating income of $6.37 billion, a 12 percent year-over-year increase.