The company released individual segment sales when it reported earnings last month but, until Thursday, had not reported how much money each of its seven business units made or lost.
In October, Microsoft reported earnings of US$2.6 billion on US$8.2 billion in revenue, saying an improvement in PC sales helped the company exceed its earlier forecasts. However, the company also saw a drop in so-called unearned revenue--that is, money taken in for long-term contracts, as customers expressed reticence over security issues.
In Thursday's breakdown, Microsoft said that, for the three months ended September 30, its client business, which is made up of the desktop Windows business, earned US$2.26 billion in profits on revenue of US$2.81 billion. That compares with a US$2.27 billion profit in the same quarter a year ago, on roughly similar revenue of US$2.81 billion.
The server and tools unit had a profit of US$370 million, up from US$297 million a year earlier, as sales grew to US$1.87 billion from US$1.63 billion a year ago. The information worker segment, which includes the Office business, posted a slight drop in profits, to US$1.59 billion from US$1.66 billion, despite the fact that sales inched up to US$2.29 billion from US$2.27 billion a year ago.
The MSN unit turned its first profit, earning US$58 million, reversing a US$147 million loss in the year-ago quarter. The mobile and embedded device unit roughly halved its loss--to US$32 million from US$65 million a year ago, while the home and entertainment unit saw its loss widen to US$273 million from US$245 million a year ago.
The Microsoft Business Solutions unit trimmed its quarterly loss to US$79 million, compared with a US$94 million loss in the year-ago quarter. The company also had US$751 million in losses from corporate and other items, an increase from the US$652 million loss posted a year earlier.
Microsoft also reiterated in the filing that it plans to take a charge in its fiscal second quarter as it completes a program in which employees can sell their underwater stock options--that is, options whose exercise price is greater than the level at which Microsoft shares are currently trading--to JP Morgan. Microsoft said it is not currently able to estimate the charge, which relates to the cost of unvested options that are transferred.
The company said it ended the quarter with US$51.62 billion in cash and short-term investments, up from US$49.05 billion as of June 30.
