Microsoft announces Q1 earnings with $5.31 billion in profit, braces for Windows 8 su

[wraggster]

http://www.blogcdn.com/www.engadget.com/media/2012/10/steve-ballmer-microsoft-surface-event.jpg (http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/18/microsoft-announces-q1-earnings-with-5-3-billion-profit/)It's Microsoft's turn at quiet-before-the-storm (http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/24/apple-announces-q3-2012-earnings-tktktk/) quarterly results, and that's evident in the fiscal first quarter earnings it just dropped on our laps. The Redmond team is reporting $16.01 billion in revenue, but a more modest than usual $5.31 billion in profit over the summer -- while it's healthier than the Q4 loss (http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/19/microsoft-announces-record-q4-18-06-billion-in-revenue/) stemming from the aQuantive write-off, it's not as impressive as the $7.2 billion profit from a year ago. While a tough PC market (http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/10/gartner-and-idc-pc-shipments-tumbled-over-8-percent-in-q3/) is partly to blame, it's equally hard to say that Microsoft couldn't have done better. There's a real chance that some of its customers have been holding back on purchases in anticipation of the Windows 8 (http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/04/windows-8-launch-event-invite/) and Windows Phone 8 (http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/04/windows-phone-8-event-oct-29/) launches; it's already setting aside $1.36 billion in revenue for Windows and Office upgrades. The company is unquestionably preparing itself for a giant spike in demand once at least Windows 8 rolls around later this month, so we'd say that the real litmus test will be the results we get after the holidays.

http://www.engadget.com/2012/10/18/microsoft-announces-q1-earnings-with-5-3-billion-profit/