Microsoft profit up 60% to a record 6.7 billion

[ChromeFoundry]

Source: Economic Times of India

29 Jan 2010, 0303 hrs IST, AGENCIES

REDMOND, Wash: Microsoft Corp. said Thursday that earnings in the most recent quarter jumped 60 per cent, helped by a rebound in personal computer sales.

The PC industry bounced back during the 2009 holiday shopping season after one of its roughest years to date. Microsoft's earnings are closely tied to computer sales because its two most profitable divisions make the Windows operating system and Office business software.

Microsoft said its net income for the fiscal second quarter that ended Dec. 31 rose to $6.7 billion, or 74 cents per share, compared with $4.2 billion, or 47 cents per share, in the year-ago period. Revenue increased 14 percent to $19 billion.

The latest version of Windows, called Windows 7, was released during the quarter. Revenue from the Windows business jumped 70 percent.

Shares of Microsoft rose 25 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $29.41 in extended trading after the release of results. Earlier, shares closed down 51 cents, or 1.7 percent, at $29.16.


Read more: http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/articleshow/5511454.cms

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Record profits...think they're hiring?

[cliffordu]

1. Yep - contract labor and H1B's or whatever that

furrin worker thingy is.

[OhioChick]

2. Hiring H-1B's n/t

[Jim Sagle]

3. 'Money for nuthin', that's the way ya do it.' --Dire Straits

[marmar]

4. Outsource labor; Produce crappy products.....

The new American business model.

[rurallib]

5. And now they can buy politicians.

[Oldhat1970]

6. Profit = Taxes

I think that any company whom uses HIB visa holders to work here in the states should not be allowed to "expense" out the costs that are associated with that labor.

Now on the bright side:

The current corporate rate of tax on profit is right around 36%, The government gets $2.4 Billion of it, but we'll have to see how the "entire" year turned out on the profit side of things.

I know "profit" is an evil word around here, but damn that's a nice chunk of change in taxes on that profit verses $0 in corporate tax when there is no profit.

[WriteDown]

7. Odd that there are no comparisons to Apple. nt

[CatholicEdHead]

8. Big jump is from lots of pent up demand

People have been waiting for 7 for a while as Vista has not lived up to expectations. Many people waited, skipped Vista and went from XP to 7, so they are making up for past down years.

Their biggest revenue generator for 2010 will be Office 2010, which should sell well as Office 2007 sucks in comparison. The free beta shows a huge improvement. It will be a big jump from 2003 to 2010 come summer.

[JoeyT]

11. That's what I figured caused it too.

Everyone was either still using XP or stuck with a shitty broken operating system. "Not lived up to expectations" is an understatement. "Train wreck" is more appropriate. ;)
So as soon as 7 came out people stampeded to buy it.

While you're probably right about Office, I honestly can't understand buying it. Not when Open Office is around.

[defendandprotect]

9. Why? With a product like they have!!

[Frank Booth]

10. When you make a good product you make good profits.

That's the secret to Microsoft's amazing success.

[JoeyT]

12. Uh huh.

You mean like Windows ME and Vista?

When you corner the market completely and have no real competition you make good profits.

Sure, there's Linux, but most people aren't even going to try Linux for fear they'll have to use a command line at some point.
There's Macs, but they have all the downsides of Linux (Everything being made for windows) with few of the upsides.

[paulsby]

13. apple screwed themselves

by not opening up their architecture back in the day, like was done with PC's.

that's why you had "PC Clones" (remember when PC's were only made by IBM.), but no macintosh clones.

[TheWatcher]

14. You should do Stand Up.

That is the funniest thing I have heard all day. :rofl: