Microsoft Results XPed Expectations

Microsoft Announces Fiscal Third Quarter Results: Strong Revenue and Operating Results Led by Windows XP

Microsoft Corp. today announced revenue of $7.25 billion for the quarter ended March 31, 2002, a 13 percent increase over the $6.40 billion reported in the prior year. Operating income totaled $3.30 billion compared to $3.00 billion in the prior year ... blah blah accounting blah.

"We delivered another quarter of solid revenue growth and operating results that exceeded our expectations. Desktop platform sales have been excellent on the strength of Windows® XP – both in the enterprise and in the home." said John Connors, chief financial officer at Microsoft. "While we look forward to slightly improved PC growth rates for the next quarter, our expectations for enterprise IT spending levels continue to be quite modest."

Robust sales of the Windows XP operating system drove strong desktop platforms revenue growth of 11 percent. The business version of Windows accounted for 47 percent of all operating systems sold this quarter, up from 35 percent in the prior year. "This quarter Windows XP shipped on nearly 60 percent of all new PCs, which represents a faster penetration than any of our previous operating systems. Windows XP continues to drive excitement for the personal computer during a challenging time for the industry as a whole," said Jim Allchin, group vice president of the Platforms Division at Microsoft. "Looking ahead, we are incredibly enthusiastic about the opportunity to deliver new digital experiences and innovative technologies around the personal computer."

In less than two months since the launch, more than 1 million units of Visual Studio .NET and the .NET Framework have shipped to developers worldwide. "We are seeing tremendous momentum with customers and industry partners, who are using the .NET Platform to take advantage of new opportunities that result from developing and consuming Web services," said Eric Rudder, senior vice president of the Developer and Platform Evangelism Group at Microsoft.

News source: Microsoft