From CNET: Microsoft is still very much a company in transition. While it continues to incur losses in an attempt to succeed in the mobile device market, Microsoft's cloud services, software and Surface tablet divisions continue to grow.
Microsoft on Thursday posted fiscal first-quarter earnings, reporting 54 cents a share, down 13 percent from 62 cents per share a year ago. Sales rose to $23.2 billion, up 25 percent from the same time last year.
Central to the company's performance this quarter is handset maker Nokia, which Microsoft acquired in April for more than $7.2 billion. The phone hardware division has grown since Microsoft brought Nokia's Lumia line of smartphones into the fold, and Microsoft hopes it will help boost the popularity of Windows products and services across the board. But the acquisition has come with costly layoffs and high operating costs.
Nokia helped the smartphone division notch better than expected revenue this quarter at $2.6 billion in sales, but it cost the company $1.14 billion in severance packages and other restructuring costs and sustained its drag on profit. Microsoft expects an additional $500 million in restructuring costs, which will bring the total charges in line with projections Microsoft laid out in July. The good news: Microsoft reported that it sold 9.3 million Lumia phones in the quarter, up 5.6 percent from the record 8.3 million devices sold this time last year.
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