14 DAY TRIAL // Microsoft, the technology giant which is involved with operating systems, gaming devices and portable media players, has announced that it has generated revenue of 16.2 billion dollars for the fiscal quarter which ended on September 30, a record for the company and an increase of 25 percent over the same period of 2009.
The Entertainment and Devices Division, which includes the Xbox 360 both in terms of hardware and video games, also saw an increase of net income to 1.8 million compared to the 1.4 million of the previous year, with profit reaching 382 million.
Microsoft has highlighted the success of the Xbox 360, which has sold better than “every console in the US for each of the past four months”, and managed to move 2.8 million units with the launch of Halo: Reach, the first person shooter from Bungie, bringing in 350 million dollars in the first two weeks on sale.
The good performance of the Xbox 360 is linked to a price cut and to the launch of the new model, which is quieter and looks better.
Peter Klein, who is the Chief Financial Officer at Microsoft, has stated, “This was an exceptional quarter, combining solid enterprise growth and continued strong consumer demand for Office 2010, Windows 7, and Xbox 360 consoles and games.”
He added, “Our ability to grow revenue while continuing to control costs allowed us to deliver another quarter of year-over-year margin expansion.”
Klein also talked about the Kinect motion tracking system, saying that it will help move even more Xbox 360 game consoles when it launches on November 4 in North America.
Microsoft has said it is committing 500 million dollars for the advertising campaign for Kinect, aiming to sell 4 million devices before the year is over.
The company is treating the device as it would the launch of a whole new console, saying that it will be viable for five more years.