Microsoft's quarter rescued by Microsoft Office

From InfoWorld: Microsoft enjoyed strong income and revenue growth for its third fiscal quarter despite sluggish PC sales, with Xbox and Office doing well, the company reported Thursday.

For the quarter that ended March 31, Microsoft reported net income of $5.23 billion, up 31 percent from the same period last year. Third-quarter revenue was $16.43 billion, a jump of 13 percent. Diluted earnings came in at $0.61 per share, up 36 percent.

"We delivered strong financial results despite a mixed PC environment, which demonstrates the strength and breadth of our businesses," Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein said in a statement.

Overall, Windows 7 revenue shrank by approximately 4 percent when compared to the same time last year, from $4.6 billion to $4.4 billion. The company attributed this slackening of demand to sluggish PC sales.

Other business units made up the difference, however. Buoyed by strong Microsoft Office sales, the Microsoft business division generated more revenue than the Windows unit this quarter. It generated $5.2 billion, a jump of 21 percent from last year's $4.3 billion.

Entertainment and devices division revenue grew by 60 percent, coming in at $1.9 billion this quarter, up from $1.2 billion a year ago, owing to strong sales of the Xbox, the Xbox Live service and the Xbox Kinect controller.

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