Microsoft post massive profits

CatInABox

I see that Microsoft have posted massive profits this year, but only by halving R&D. Guess this means that since they are bringing out a spyware blocker, they dont have to fix any more of the holes, therefore, cut R&D!

Gits.

Still, nice to see the big ol' XBox finally posting a profit for the first time. Halo 2 must have really paid off.

aidan_walsh

Well someone is just so keen to show how cool they are by MS bashing that they don't even bother to read the report, eh?

http://www.eweek.com/article2/0,1759,1756106,00.asp?kc=EWRSS03119TX1K0000594

The results for the quarter under review included $2.2 billion in compensation expenses incurred in connection with the Employee Stock Option Transfer Program.

Operating income for the second quarter came in significantly higher at $4.8 billion, an increase of $3.3 billion over the same period in the prior year. Net income for the second quarter was $3.5 billion, with diluted earnings of 32 cents per share, exceeding the company's guidance by 4 cents and including stock-based compensation expense.

John Connors, Microsoft's chief financial officer, who is leaving the Redmond, Wash., software company after 16 years, said the record revenue came from "across-the-board strength in both our business and consumer segments."

"Our long-term approach to growing new businesses is paying off. Home and Entertainment delivered its first profitable quarter, and all three of the company's emerging businesses combined generated a nearly $700 million improvement in operating results compared to the second quarter of last fiscal year," he said in a statement released after the financial markets closed.

And nowhere in that report is it suggested that they did anything by cutting R&D funding. Care to share your source on that?

Capt'n Midnight

[bash] in the past a lot of R&D was done by small companies that got bought out or by "borrowing" technology from partners. so even if it were true you would want to see how thier outsourcing and acquisitions budgets are like - Software patching SUS/hfecheck / backup solutions / antivirus / spyware filters are and usually were written by third parties - check the help about buttons. [/bash]

lomb

im surprised not by their profits but by their lack of margin. they gross 10 billion a quarter and only make 2 billion out of this. lol
it costs nothing to cut cds. i know that the hardware end of the business drags the margins way down but the xbox isnt a big part of the sales i think.
theyre overheads must be MONSTEROUS. sure what does r and d cost , 1000 software developers costs no more than 100million per year. so the mind boggles what they spend the 8 billion on

jesus_thats_gre

Considering Microsoft now offer a Firewall as part of SP2, how come the likes of Norton etc are not filing anti-trust lawsuits in the same fashion as competing media companies did to stop WMP being bundled with Windows?

JIZZLORD

Hmm, must buy stock.
Longhorn is coming.....

Capt'n Midnight

lomb wrote:

it costs nothing to cut cds.

don't forget that they outsource everything - CD's / support , they don't even own thier own buildings ! *
last I heard only programming, marketing and legal were internal

* they sold them and reckon they will be able to make the rent back on investments/savings of the money they got in the sale.