SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 18 (Xinhua) -- Microsoft on Thursday announced its latest quarterly financial results, with numbers lower than analysts' expectation.
For the quarter ended on Sept. 30, the software giant reported revenue of 16.01 billion U.S. dollars and 5.31 billion dollars in operating income. Its profit was 4.47 billion dollars or 53 cents in diluted earnings per share (EPS).
The revenue, operating income and EPS decreased by 8 percent, 26 percent and 22 percent respectively from the same period a year earlier.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters gave an average estimate of 16.42 billion dollars in revenue and 56 cents in EPS.
Microsoft said the results were suppressed by an accounting rule that the deferral of some revenue will be regained next quarter.
According to the company, the deferral affected 1.36 billion dollars of revenue and 13 cents of EPS from the Windows Upgrade Offer, pre-sales of Windows 8 to original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) prior to general availability and the Office Offer.
As the company's new Windows 8 operating system will be generally available on Oct. 26, the Windows and Windows Live Division of Microsoft posted revenue of 3.24 billion dollars, a 33 percent decrease year over year.
"The slowdown in PC demand ahead of the Windows 8 launch resulted in a decline in operating income," Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft, said in a statement.
"The launch of Windows 8 is the beginning of a new era at Microsoft," noted Steve Ballmer, Microsoft's chief executive officer.
"Investments we've made over a number of years are now coming together to create a future of exceptional devices and services, with tremendous opportunity for our customers, developers, and partners," Ballmer said.
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