PC Sales Spike Aids Q3'10

A dramatic increase in PC sales in the third quarter of Microsoft’s fiscal year (which ended Mar. 31, 2010) helped the company increase its revenue 6% from last year, to US$14.50 billion. However, spending on business software was weak, particularly one-time purchases of Office, which suffered ahead of the imminent release of the new Office 2010 suite. Despite the fairly flat revenue growth in the quarter, continuing cost controls helped Microsoft increase net income 35% from the previous year, to US$4.01 billion.

(For an overview of Microsoft’s recent financial performance, see the chart “Microsoft Financials for the Last Five Quarters“.)

PC Growth Drives Windows Growth

Microsoft’s Windows and Windows Live business segment had an outstanding quarter, and the Online segment showed revenue growth in line with the recovery of the overall advertising market (as well as ballooning losses due to investments in Bing and traffic acquisition). Revenue in the company’s other segments was relatively flat.