60 Million Windows 7 Licenses Sold Taking Q2 Revenue to $19.02 Billion

Windows 7 is the fastest selling operating system in history and Microsoft now has the figures to back up a statement from Microsoft Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer at the 2010 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in the first half of January. Of course, despite having the actual data for the number of sold licenses, Ballmer did not offer a number at CES 2010. At that time, I predicted that Microsoft had already sold 60 million copies of Windows 7. I didn’t think that I was really going out on a limb with the estimate, and it turns out that I was right on the money. Microsoft confirmed on January 28th that it sold in excess of 60 million Windows 7 licenses by the end of 2009.

On January 28, Microsoft reported results for the second fiscal quarter ended on December 31st, 2009, and indicated that it was the demand for Windows 7 to drive record revenue and profit. According to the Redmond company, revenue in Q2 2010 grew to no less than $19.02 billion, no less than 14% more compared to Q2 2009. “Exceptional demand for Windows 7 led to the positive top-line growth for the company,” revealed Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft. “Our continuing commitment to managing costs allowed us to drive earnings performance ahead of the revenue growth.”

Microsoft’s operating income jumped by 43% compared to the same period of the prior fiscal year, and increased to $8.51 billion, with net income getting a 60% boost to $6.66 billion and diluted earnings per share up 57% to $0.74 per share. The Redmond company explained that the Q2 2010 financial results also included no less than $1.71 billion of deferred revenue. With an impact of $0.14 of diluted earnings per share, the deferred revenue is associated to the Windows 7 Upgrade Option Program and pre-sales of Windows 7 to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and retailers ahead of general availability on October 22nd, 2009.

Not taking into account the deferred revenue, the results in Q2 2010 would have been just $17.31 billion in revenue, corresponding to diluted earnings per share of $0.60 per share. “This is a record quarter for Windows units,” added Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft. “We are thrilled by the consumer reception to Windows 7 and by business enthusiasm to adopt Windows 7.”