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Microsoft reports $4.5b in profit, a record $16.04b in revenue
This time last year, almost to the day, Microsoft saw its first annual sales decline in history. Things are looking much better now, with the company reporting a record $16.04 billion in revenue, a 22 percent year-over-year increase for its Q4 revenue ending June 30th. In fact, revenue is up across all divisions, with Windows and Windows Live seeing the biggest uptick (43.5 percent to $4.55 billion) followed by Entertainment and Devices (27.3 percent to $1.6 billion). Operating income, on the other hand, paints a different picture of E&D, showing a $172 million loss for this quarter (compared to $141 loss in Q4 last year), but looking over the entire fiscal year, the home of Xbox and Zune this year did $679 million in operating income -- a sizable jump to the $108 million from 2009. The overall operating income for the company is $5.93 billion this quarter (net income $4.52 billion), a 49 percent increase over last Q4, and $20.36 billion for the year (18 percent compared with fiscal 2009). We know you're interested in comparisons, so we'll just go ahead and break it down for ya: the gang in Redmond is still beating Apple in both revenue ($16.04 billion vs. $15.7 billion) and profit ($4.52 billion vs. $3.25), but that margin feels smaller than it used to. Enough to keep the rumored pressure off Ballmer? Frankly, we don't even think biplanes could knock the man off the top of a tower, but Windows Phone 7 has a lot to prove, and fast. Microsoft is hosting a webcast of its report later today -- usually much ado about nothing, as far as we're concerned, but we'll listen in and let ya know if anything interesting pops up. Update: Some interesting Xbox 360 statistics. 1.5 million consoles were sold this last quarter. Xbox Live has 25 million members, and for the first time since its inception, the revenue from the Marketplace exceeded subscription revenue.
Nokia quarterly profits drop 40 percent year-on-year as CEO says speculation must end 'one way or another'
Olli-Pekka Kallasvuo was already a man in a hot seat and these latest numbers will do little to lower the temperature. Nokia's net profit for Q2 2010 was €221 million, which most companies would be happy with were it not for the fact that this company pulled in €380 million in the same quarter last year -- and that's with 2009, as Nokia's own report indicates, representing an economically tougher environment. Average selling prices for Nokia handsets used to be €64 back then, which dipped to €62 in the first quarter of this year, and is now at €61. Nokia says this has been caused by price pressures, "particularly in certain high-end smartphones," and though the change may appear small, a Euro's difference tends to be amplified when you're shifting upwards of 111 million units each trimester. For his part, OPK has said that the speculation about him being replaced isn't doing Nokia any good and he's determined that it "must be brought to an end one way or another." Guess we better keep an eye on this one then.
Nintendo net profit declines for first time in six years, panic remains inadvisable
Nintendo's 2009 financial results have just been released and, shockingly enough, the company hasn't been able to break its profit record yet again. In fact, annual net profit dipped -- for the first time in six tenths of a decade -- to $2.44 billion, a 12 percent drop from the previous fiscal year's $2.79 billion. Sales of the Wii were down 21 percent year-on-year, but Nintendo still managed to shift 20 million units globally, so it's not exactly all doom and gloom at Mario HQ. And while Microsoft and Sony are working on their own motion-sensing offerings, Ninty is reloading the only way it knows how -- bringing the noir Wii to fashion-conscious Americans, and an all-new 3D portable console for the rest of us. Anyone willing to bet against Nintendo's income sheet improving next year? [Original image courtesy of Anarkyman]
Intel wraps up 'best first quarter ever' by teasing new dual-core Atoms for Q2
Android support for Moorestown isn't the only morsel of Intel news to come out today. In an earnings call today that kicked off with word of a 288 percent year-over-year net income increase -- its "best first [fiscal] quarter ever" reportedly -- Intel CEO Paul Otellini said, "the next innovation coming out on Atom is dual core, which comes out in the second quarter." Given dual core Atoms already exist for nettops, we're gonna guess he's referring specifically to netbooks. That jibes pretty well with what we heard about the supposed D510 remake as N500. Guess we've got something to look forward to in the netbook category over the next few months.
Microsoft reports $6.66b Q1 net profit, Windows 7 'fastest selling OS in history'
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.
Microsoft reports $100M decline in Zune revenue
Microsoft's newly-announced layoffs and declining profits aren't the only bad news in Redmond -- according to the company's quarterly statements, Zune platform revenue decreased $100 million, or 54 percent compared to the same quarter last year, due to falling device sales. Mega-ouch. Not all is doom and gloom for the Entertainment and Devices Division, which continues to be profitable with a $151 million haul: Xbox 360 and PC platform revenue increased six percent ($135 million) to $2.2 billion. Meanwhile, Apple saw a three percent increase in iPod sales over the same period, so we're anxious to see what Microsoft has planned for reviving the social.[Thanks, Jason Wong]
Sony expects PSP sales to exceed fiscal year forecast
It's not all doom and gloom in the Sony financial camp, as the manufacturer has announced (via Reuters) that PlayStation Portable sales for the fiscal year, ending March 2009, would exceed forecast figures. The PSP, which recently saw its second revision find success in Japan despite a screen scanline issue feature, is now expected to sell 16 million -- and not a previously expected 15 million -- units within the complete fiscal year. Thanks, one million additional, potential buyers![Via PSP Fanboy]
Midway bleeds another $34.8 million in Q2
It's not getting any prettier at Midway Games, as the publisher has announced it lost $34.8 million this quarter -- over double its losses the same quarter last year. This also follows Q1 losses of $34 million for the company, bringing this red-soaked mess of a year to almost $69 million in losses.Matt Booty, Midway's interim president and CEO, believes that Midway's lineup later this year, consisting of Blitz: The League II and Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe, will "expand the audience beyond their core fan bases." We know it's sweet to try and make quotes from the Nintendo playbook, but we just don't have the heart to tell him that Midway isn't Nintendo. The financial rivers will continue to flow red as Midway expects another multi-million loss during Q3.
Analysts: EA revenues up in Q2, $100 million in losses expected
EA will announce its second-quarter results on Tuesday and, according to an average estimate by analysts, is expected to report a loss of $111 million. Forbes reports EA had a $132 million loss the same quarter last year. Not that EA is hurting for customers, revenues are estimated to be up about $200 million this quarter despite the overall loss.This second-quarter loss isn't surprising as EA -- along with almost every other publisher -- "backloads" its games to cause a hellish purchasing climate during the holiday season. Analysts are uppity with EA because this is the first quarter the company hasn't provided them with guidance, causing analysts to have a huge spread on the quarterly financial expectations. EA is also waiting for the results of an FTC investigation into its buyout of Take-Two. There's probably going to be a lot more cloak and dagger as the dethroned publishing king tries to crawl its way back to #1.
Analyst: THQ has internal problems
Janco Partners' analyst Mike Hickey, after gazing deep into his crystal ball, reports many bad things in THQ's present and future. The biggest issue, Hickey believes, is the publisher's reliance on the recently delayed Saints Row 2. He surmises there is general internal conflict at the publisher, between corporate trying to salvage the company's finances, and developers trying to deliver a quality product. Hickey states THQ's guidance for this fiscal year is too aggressive and dependent on what THQ is calling "proven franchises," but he believes these titles are at risk due to delays, low demand and major marketplace competition.Hickey spends some time comparing Saints Row to Activision's True Crime. He says that Activision once called True Crime a franchise (before it killed it) the same way THQ is touting Saints Row, but he believes a "franchise" has a "predictable level of consumer demand," which Saints Row just doesn't have. However, he believes it'll be THQ's best-performing owned IP this year. Hickey tells investors to just look back at THQs owned IPs for the last couple years and make their own conclusions about how things are going to go down this fiscal year.
GameStop keeps the cash faucet on full blast for Q1
GameStop reported $62.1 million in earnings (a 151% increase) year-over-year for its first quarter ending on May 3. GameDaily reports the company also saw a 42% increase in sales to $1.8 billion, with new game sales giving a nice bump to the company, thanks to major releases during the period like GTA IV, Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Mario Kart Wii, RSV 2 and Army of Two.GameStop's CEO R. Richard Fontaine maintains a "bullish" outlook for the rest of the year. He states the company's data shows that hardware sales grew incrementally higher in 2007 than in any other year and he expects a similar performance in 2008. Fontaine maintains GameStop is well on its way to opening about 600 stores in 2008, with half those located outside the US. The company also raised its guidance for the full fiscal year to show around 30% growth over the megatons of cash it made last year. Working conditions and customer service be damned, there be money in dem dar pawnshops for stockholders!
Sony platforms dominate latest EA sales figures [updated]
According to Electronic Arts' Q4 2008 fiscal report, all of Sony's current platforms (PS3, PS2, PSP) dominated EA's game sales across the three month period. The PS2 did the best out of the lot and accounted for $166 million units sold worth of sales and was closely followed by the PS3's $152 million. The Xbox 360 clocked in at $128 million, while the Wii came last at $75 million. Sony's systems accounted for 61 percent of the total console title sales for EA.Sony also reigned supreme in the portable arena with the PSP accounting for $69 million. This gave the PSP a boost taking 47 percent of total EA portable software for Q4 2008. Mobile phones surprisingly beat out the Nintendo DS with 28 and 25 percent shares respectively.It's great to hear that Sony's platforms are strong systems for software sales. On the other hand, it's not so grand to think that this sales push contributes funds for EA's obsessiveness to buyout Take-Two. Switching topics, this news also makes it all so apparent why EA's Peter Moore showed so much concern over PS3 related products recently.Update: The numbers reflected in this article are not about units sold but rather they're about revenue generated. We apologize for any confusion. Our source, GamesIndustry.biz, initially reported these number as unit sold.
EA records $454 million loss, despite sales of $3.6 billion in fiscal 2008
EA announced today that sales were way up this past fiscal year. Still, all those billions didn't stop the company from losing $454 million. While the publisher's revenues increased an amazing 19% to $3.7 billion, and EA saw its FY08 Q4 bring in $1.1 billion, the overall loss was a far cry from the company's $76 million in profit during FY07. Much of the loss can be attributed to EA's expensive tastes, which included the purchase of BioWare and Pandemic in FY08.EA CEO John Riccitiello said that the company has felt "aggressive change" over the last year and was pleased with the revenue numbers (far more than Activision made in its FY08), which crowned EA as the undisputed, number one publisher in North America and Europe for the fiscal year. EA had 27 games reach the platinum mark in sales, 15 of which went double platinum. In the new fiscal year though, Riccitiello would definitely like to see some profit. The company, in giving guidance for FY09, predicts revenues between $4.9 and $5.15 billion. The EA Games label plans to release more than 20 titles, including 9 new IPs, in FY09.[Via GameDaily]
Sony Ericsson launches ho hum Z780 and G502 cellphones as profits plunge
In a move meant to, uh, distract investors from its announced 48% profit downturn (compared to Q1 of the previous year), Sony Ericsson just announced a pair of mid-range handsets. The Z780 clamshell -- now official -- is the global sister to the announced Z770 for Europe. As such, she comes packing UMTS/HSDPA 850/1900/2100 and quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE radios. While it comes loaded with Google Maps for Mobile and aGPS navigation, you won't get much use from it on that itty bitty 128 x 160 pixel display of unknown dimensions. Hell, that bezel chews up an equivalent amount of real estate. The G502 candybar also features Maps but lacks aGPS. No worries for US Americans though as it's likely to stay put in Europe with UMTS/HSDPA 2100 and GSM/GPRS/EDGE 900/1800/1900 radios. Both will feature M2 memory expansion, Bluetooth, and 2 megapixel cameras when they launch in "selected markets" come Q2. Sorry Sony Ericsson, but we're not seeing a lot here to distract investors (or consumers) for very long. Xperia X1 please?Update: Sony Ericsson has published conflicting information about the Z780's resolution. It's 2.2-inches and 320 x 240 pixels in the press release but 128 x 160 pixels on the product page.Read -- ProfitsRead -- Phones
Best Buy profits surge 52% in twisted CompUSA schadenfreude
Like a boot to CompUSA's hemorrhaging gut, Best Buy just announced a 52-percent jump in third quarter profits. The nation's consumer electronics giant received a favorable bump in sales due to a calendar fluke which plopped an extra week of post-Thanksgiving shopping in Q3. Gains that will likely be given back in the shorter Q4 holiday season. Still, with international sales (Canada and China) up 32%, Best Buy is looking solid to close the year ahead of analyst expectations. That should translate to more Geek Squad jobs for whatever that's worth.
THQ forms evil plan to net 1 BILLION dollars
Gamespot is reporting that the portable heavy publisher THQ plans to make one billion dollars in its fiscal 2007 year. it The forecast is due to incredibly strong sales of games like WWE SmackDown! vs. RAW 2007, Cars, and Avatar: The Last Airbender.Brian Farrell, President and CEO of THQ, said, "THQ's platform strategy served us very well this holiday...This performance combined with our successful original property launches exclusively for next-generation systems have positioned THQ to achieve the significant milestone of $1 billion in sales for fiscal 2007." He then made plans to buy the Caspian Sea and rename it Bikini Bottom.
Earnings reports: Sony slumps, Nintendo, Microsoft surge
A trio of publicly filed financial reports for the most recent quarter (July through Sept. '06) have shed some light on the fiscal fates of the three major consoles makers going into the critical holiday period.First up is Sony, which posted massively reduced earnings as expected. The ongoing laptop battery recall accounted for much of the 94 percent reduction in profits, but slow sales of the PSP and Playstation 2 accounted for a 43.5 billion yen operating loss in the games division. Research and development costs for the PS3 also cut into Sony's bottom line for games. Sony is still predicting sales of 6 million Playstation 3 units by March '07.Nintendo's financial situation is much rosier, with profits rising 72 percent on strong sales of DS hardware and software. The company is shipping 100,000 DS units a week and is still unable to meet demand in some Japanese stores. Nintendo expects to sell 20 million DS units and 6 million Wii units this fiscal year (ending March 2007), helping pad down an net income forecast of 100 billion yen.Spurred on by higher software sales, Microsoft announced game revenue for the 360 and PC increased 107 percent ($319 million) in the past quarter. Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division (which includes the games unit) grew by 70 percent over the same period last year. The Xbox 360 sold 900,000 units in the quarter, pushing it over 6 million units sold worldwide, and putting it well on its way to selling an expected ten million systems by the end of 2006, according to Microsoft.Read: Sony reportRead: Nintendo reportRead: Microsoft report
EA makes a lot of money on the PSP
While it's easy to hate EA, they are still one of the most influential companies in the industry. Their fiscal numbers for 2006 and Q1 2007 were released a few days ago and they reveal interesting information. It's unsurprising that EA makes a lot of money of the PSP: it made $289 million in revenue on PSP sales last year. What is surprising is how much more money that is compared to the Nintendo DS: only $67 million in the same time. Even more surprising is that although EA makes a lot more revenue on the PSP, it has announced much greater support for the DS in the future.[Via PSPWorld]
