Microsoft claims that sales of Windows Vista are chugging steadily onward, and have now passed the 140 million mark. But that wasn’t enough to help Microsoft extend its string of lights-out quarterly financial performances. In its fiscal third quarter earnings call Thursday, Microsoft met the Street’s expectations but saw quarterly profit drop 11 percent from the year-ago quarter. However, the results were skewed by Microsoft’s booking of $1.7 billion in deferred revenue from its Express Upgrade to Windows Vista and Microsoft Office Technology Guarantee programs as well as pre-shipments of Vista and Office 2007.
But in a Q&A session after the call, Microsoft CFO Chris Liddell denied that Vista related issues dragged down the Client division’s results, and instead chalked it up to changes in the geographical sales mix and a channel shift toward larger OEMs and away from local and regional system builders. Liddell also beat the anti-piracy drum during the call, claiming that an increase of shipments of unlicensed PCs, particularly in Asia, was partially responsible for a 25 percent drop in OEM revenue during the third quarter. “Piracy is a tough matter, and we will need to continue investing in order to make progress,” he said.
Source: CRN, Martin
