Microsoft had a great fiscal first quarter with little help from its mobile division. You have to wonder how well it can do once it finally releases Windows Phone 7 next month.
According to the company, it had “revenue of $16.20 billion for the quarter ended Sept. 30, 2010, a 25% increase from the same period of the prior year. Operating income, net income and diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $7.12 billion, $5.41 billion and $0.62 per share, which represented increases of 59%, 51% and 55%, respectively, when compared with the prior year period.
As you would expect, Microsoft’s cash cows were Windows 7 and Office but Xbox 360 continues to gain traction. The company’s mobile division didn’t fare that well because no on in their right mind is buying a Windows Mobile smartphone now. The only people I could think who would want this are people who need a smartphone to play nice with their company and those out of the loop.
This is the last quarter that won’t take Windows Phone 7 into account. The company is launching 9 handsets in 30 countries beginning later this month and it has a decent chance of being a hit.
In our review of Windows Phone 7, we liked the new smartphone platform but felt like it was missing some key features like copy and paste, robust third-party app multitasking and the ability to tether.
As for the handsets itself, feel free to read our reviews of the HTC Surround and Samsung Focus to get a feel for what type of devices we can look forward to. Both are solid devices but I’d lean toward the Focus if I were choosing between the two.
Windows Phone 7 is facing some steep challenges though, as Apple iOS, Google Android and Research In Motion BlackBerry are already mature platforms with strong customer bases. Throw in HP Palm with webOS and Microsoft will definitely be in for a fight.
[Via Microsoft]