PC Sales, Servers Expand Revenue

Strong business PC sales and continued expansion in servers delivered US$17.4 billion in revenue, a 6% year-over-year increase, in Microsoft’s third fiscal 2012 quarter (ended Mar. 31, 2012). Operating income also grew 12% to US$6.37 billion. The growth in sales to business customers helped offset an unexpected decline in Xbox sales that tipped Microsoft’s entertainment division into a loss, but tax and investment factors shrank the company’s net income by 2% year-over-year.

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

Businesses Continue to Drive Results

Microsoft reports its financial results in five divisions. (For a chart detailing the results of each division, see “Revenue and Profit (Loss) by Business Segment“.)

Business Division Sees Server, PC Growth

The Business division, Microsoft’s largest by revenue and income, includes Office; business servers such as Exchange, SharePoint, Lync, and Dynamics CRM; and the Office 365 cloud applications. The division increased revenue 9% from the same quarter last year to US$5.81 billion, with an operating profit of US$3.77 billion.