Microsoft quarterly earnings rise 31 percent to $5.2 billion

Microsoft announced a very healthy quarterly earning report which show a 31 percent increase to $5.2 billion. This fiscal third quarter report has exceeded analyst estimates.

While the figure is very positive for Microsoft, there is a rather negative aspect to the report, this is the second straight quarter that revenue from their Windows division has dropped from the previous year. This may cause investors to worry more about the future of Microsoft operating system development. Are they going to be facing a gradual decline over coming years?

The company are still facing serious threats from the Apple iPad and other tablet computers which use rival operating systems, such as Google Android. It appears that many people are moving away from Windows and into the mobile sector for ‘casual' computing, such as checking email, chatting and general browsing demands.

Revenue for Microsoft in the Windows division fell by 4 percent, slightly worse than the fall off in PC shipments which was tracked by research firm IDC.

Thankfully Microsoft have other revenue streams to fall back on, but it does cause concerns that their Windows platform could be facing a slow, but gradual decline. This could also force them to start moving even quicker on the next release of Windows, which always helps to boost company profits after a public release.

KitGuru says: Is the tablet market damaging Microsoft software? it would appear so.

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