"Roy Schestowitz" <newsgroups@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:4260098.z24FXXLitp@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> Microsoft Feels the Pain of Vista's Delay and Losses in Search
>
> ,----[ Quote ]
> | So now we know how much the delay in Microsoft's (MSFT) launch of its
> | Vista operating system cost the company: $1 billion in profits, and
> | $1.64 billion in deferred revenues. (Profits declined in
> | just-announced quarter to $2.6 billion, from $3.6 billion last
> | year). The question now is whether Microsoft can make it up
> | in short order.
> `----
>
> http://blogs.business2.com/business2blog/2007/01/vista_delay_low.html
>
> Linux is where the increased profits are at (see below). Growth
> opportunity
> and innovation requires reuse, interoperability, and cooperation.
>
The Street does not agree:
"Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected the Redmond, Wash.-based
software maker to make 23 cents per share.
Revenue rose to $12.5 billion, a 6 percent gain from $11.8 billion in the
year-ago quarter. Analysts were expecting just shy of $12.1 billion.
"Overall, it was a strong quarter," said Robert Breza, an analyst at RBC
Capital Markets.
After closing at $30.45 on the Nasdaq Stock Market before the earnings
release, Microsoft shares gained 55 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $31 in
extended trading.
Windows Vista and Office 2007, the latest editions of Microsoft's flagship
products, do not hit the consumer market until Tuesday, though they have
been available for businesses since Nov. 30.
As a result, Microsoft's "client" division, responsible for Windows, posted
a 25 percent drop in sales to $2.59 billion. And the business division,
which includes Office, saw a 5 percent drop to $3.51 billion.
The declines were expected, because Microsoft heavily deferred Windows and
Office revenue from the second quarter to the current period. That was done
to account for coupons that recent computer buyers got to let them upgrade
their existing software to Vista and Office.
The deferrals trimmed $1.64 billion from Microsoft's second-quarter revenue
and $1.13 billion, or 11 cents per share, from profits. If not for the
deferrals, Microsoft said revenue would have leaped 20 percent in the
quarter.
"That's impressive growth for any company, let alone one of our size," Chief
Financial Officer Chris Liddell said in a conference call."
Apparently most people would rather have a Vista coupon than a Linux DVD.
In any case, the missing money was not lost, just stuck in the chute for a
few weeks.
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