Windows 7 Pushes Microsoft’s Profits Up 34.5 Percent; Bing And Xbox Live Kicking It Too (Slides)

Another healthy quarter for Microsoft, which saw a 34.5 percent boost in net income to $4 billion, on top of a more modest 6 percent increase in quarterly revenues to $14.5 billion. The return to growth was driven largely by sales of Windows 7, which were up 28 percent to $4.4 billion. (Windows Live is included in that, but it doesn't yet produce much revenue, although Microsoft is about to update the products in Windows Liv e such as Hotmail and Messenger to make them more social). Bing and Xbox Live were also strong growers, although on an absolute basis they weren't enough to make much of a difference. At least the Xbox division (which includes the Zune and other entertainment products and devices) is no longer losing money, reporting $165 million in operating income on revenues of $1.7 billion. The online division cannot claim the same. Revenues were up 12 percent to $566 million, but It lost $713 million in operating income. That is about $300 million more than it was losing last year. That is okay, though, the $3 billion in operating income for the Windows division is up by $788 million from last year