Hot on the heels of Apple reporting its all-time best quarter, Microsoft has released its fiscal fourth quarter results, posting $17.37 billion revenue with a net income of $5.87 billion, an increase of 8% and 30% from the same period in 2010. For the full year, the company pulled in a whopping $69.94 billion with a net income of $23.15 billion, up 12% and 23%, respectively.
Much of that cash was derived from Microsoft's Business Division, which witnessed a revenue growth of 7% in the fourth quarter and 16% for the full year. Office 2010 is chugging along and continues to be the fastest-selling version of the productivity suite with over 100 million licenses sold. Server revenue also fared well, experiencing double-digit growth quarterly and annually.
The company's entertainment segment felt the largest percentage boost with revenue increasing 30% from the year-ago quarter and 45% for the full fiscal year. Microsoft's press release claims that the Xbox 360 has been the top-selling console in the US over the past year and it attributed the division's healthy growth to "the ongoing momentum of the console, Kinect, and Xbox Live."
Meanwhile, the Windows and Windows Live Division's sequential revenue declined for the second time in a row, this time by 1%, while full year revenue fell 2%. This was in line with expectations as Windows 7 is reaching maturity and sales are slowing, not to mention the fact that non-Windows tablets have smothered netbook sales and the PC industry as a whole is somewhat stagnant.
The company's Online Services Division revenue grew 17% and 15% as Bing's US search share increased 14.4% in the most recent quarter. While that sounds great on paper (and growth certainly is good), the division reported a net loss of $728 million for the year – even greater than 2010's $688 million loss. Check out the company's release for more figures and forward-looking statements.