Software giant Microsoft has for the first time ever since the company went public back in 1986 posted a quarterly loss. In an earnings statement published yesterday, the company revealed that it posted a net loss of 492 million dollars. The loss has been attributed to the write-off of its massive $ 6.2 billion purchase of online advertising firm eQuantive which it made back in 2007.
Things on the revenue side however look a lot rosier. The company earned record revenues of $18.06 billion – a rise of 7 percent over the same period a year ago.
Microsoft is looking forward to one of its most important quarters as it gears to launch a slew of new products in October. The products include Windows 8, the latest desktop and tablet OS developed by the company. Also on the cards is the launch of Windows 8 RT which would be an operating system designed for tablets running on ARM architecture. This is of course apart from the updated Windows Phone platform which would see an update from the current 7.5 version to Windows Phone 8. That platform, which is yet to see significant traction a good year and a half after its release, is expected to bring good fortune to both Microsoft and Nokia.
Microsoft will also debut its Surface series of tablets in the next few months. Whether it would stand up to the all-powerful iPad is something that we would be watching very closely.
“We delivered record fourth-quarter and annual revenue, and we’re fast approaching the most exciting launch season in Microsoft history,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive of Microsoft.
