Infotech Lead America: Microsoft posted 18 percent increase in revenue to $20.48 billion for the third quarter ended March 31, 2013 against $17.4 billion in the same period previous fiscal.
The company’s Cloud services have assisted Microsoft to build significant increase in revenue and net income.
Net income of Microsoft increased 19 percent to $7.61 billion from $6.37 billion.
Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer at Microsoft, said: “The bold bets we made on cloud services are paying off as people increasingly choose Microsoft services including Office 365, Windows Azure, Xbox LIVE, and Skype.”
The Microsoft Business Division posted $6.32 billion of revenue, up 8 percent. During the quarter, it launched the new Office, enhancing productivity and the user experience through new mobility, social, and cloud features.
The Server & Tools business reported $5.04 billion of revenue, up 11 percent, driven by double-digit percentage revenue growth in SQL Server and System Center.
Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft, said: “Enterprise customers are increasingly turning to Microsoft for their IT solutions and as a result, we continue to take share from our competitors in key areas including hybrid cloud, data platform, and virtualization.”
The Windows Division posted revenue of $5.70 billion, up 23 percent.
During the quarter, it added to the Surface family of devices with Surface Pro.
The Online Services Division reported revenue of $832 million, an 18 percent increase. Online advertising revenue grew 22 percent driven by an increase in revenue per search.
The Entertainment and Devices Division posted revenue of $2.53 billion, up 56 percent. Xbox LIVE now has over 46 million members worldwide, an 18 percent increase.
Business Outlook
Microsoft is revising operating expense guidance downward and now offers a range of $30.2 billion to $30.5 billion for the full year ending June 30, 2013.
Microsoft also offers preliminary fiscal year 2014 operating expense guidance of $31.6 billion to $32.2 billion, representing 4 percent to 6 percent growth from the mid-point of fiscal year 2013 adjusted guidance.
