Strong Sales Of Windows Licenses To Manufacturers Surprises Analyst

numbers like $24.52 billion in revenue for a quarter, and $6.38 billion in net income for the same period are impressive, if nothing else. And even Microsoft’s chief financial officer, Amy Hood was quick to admit that the software titan performed admirably well. And this, according to her, was doubly true in weaker areas where the company needed to improve:

“We exceeded expectations in both the commercial unit and the devices and consumer segment and we saw improvement in areas where frankly we needed to get better.”

As far as analysts are concerned, many of them are a little startled by the fact that the company is going in the right direction. Windows is selling rather nicely, and Redmond’s initiative of focusing on new markets (like cloud services) is starting to bear results. Kim Forrest, an analyst with Fort Pitt Capital Group explained in an interview with Bloomberg that even though the PC market is shrinking, still declining, sales of Windows to manufactures have been good:

“They were very good numbers. The enterprise sales area looked pretty strong. Xbox was a winner this year and sales of Windows to PC makers weren’t as bad.”

At the end of the day, this is just momentum. Microsoft would be looking to keep this thrust going throughout this year, as the next few months will decide the destiny of not just its modern platforms, but also the PC industry as we know it.]]>