Microsoft enjoys record quarter

Xbox 360 and Windows platform holder Microsoft has reported its best ever quarterly earnings for the three months ending December 31st.

Total company revenues came in at $19.95bn for the period with profits reaching just over $8bn.

It was the Entertainment and Devices Division, which is the home of Xbox 360, that posted the best display with revenues of $3.6bn – a year-on-year rise of 55 per cent. Profits were up even more, climbing 86 per cent to $679m.

6.3m Xbox 360 consoles were sold throughout the period, an annual jump of 21 per cent. It also sold 8m Kinect cameras – a number the company said "far exceeded its expectations". Xbox Live membership grew by 30 per cent too.

EDD now represents about 18 per cent of total revenue and eight per cent of total profit at the company. It forecasts annual revenue growth of 40 per cent at the Division.

"We are enthusiastic about the consumer response to our holiday lineup of products, including the launch of Kinect. The eight million units of Kinect sensors sold in just 60 days far exceeded our expectations," Microsoft CFO Peter Klein explained.

"The pace of business spending, combined with strong consumer demand, led to another quarter of operating margin expansion and solid earnings per share growth."

The was less positive news from its Windows operations, though, which saw revenues dip 30 per cent year-on-year to $5bn. It now ranks behind Microsoft’s Business division in both revenue and profit.