We've already seen how the weak economy has affected several big-name tech companies, from Intel to AMD to Dell and others; but what about Microsoft? Well the software maker posted its earnings late yesterday and, even though it remains as one of the most profitable companies in the world, a slump in sales has sent it tumbling to its first year-over-year fall in revenue since going public in 1986.
Specifically, revenue for the first calendar quarter (which corresponds to Microsoft's third quarter of its 2009 fiscal year) was $13.65 billion, down 6 percent from the year before, while net income dropped a whopping 32 percent to $2.98 billion. The company blames "weakness in the global PC and Server markets" for these results. A recent Gartner report showed worldwide PC shipments totaled 67 million units in the first quarter of 2009, nearly 7 percent down on the first quarter of 2008.
The news wasn't all bad for Microsoft; the company's server business saw a 7 percent rise in revenue and a 24 percent increase in earnings. As for Windows 7, Microsoft just noted that it "remains on track for a fiscal year 2010 launch" - which starts by mid 2009. As usual, they are only offering this rather vague timeframe but everything seems to indicate their next operating system will be out in time for this year's holiday season.