Channel Beat: Microsoft Earnings Up, Despite Layoffs

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In this week’s top stories, Microsoft reported a 17 percent boost in quarterly revenue year-over-year after announcing staggering layoffs last week.

Microsoft’s fiscal year-end revenue was also up 11 percent compared with 2013. CEO Satya Nadella applauded accelerated commercial cloud business and emphasized that Microsoft is in a transition period. Nadella referenced the layoffs as ’bold and disciplined decisions’ to ’define our core.’ Nadella also denied any plans to sell off Microsoft’s Xbox operations, although it will close Xbox Entertainment Studios. Fourth-quarter revenue from the devices and consumer segment jumped a whopping 42 percent.

Apple third-quarter numbers were up overall, as reported this week, with quarterly revenue up nearly 6 percent from a year earlier.

Apple reported a quarterly net profit of $7.7 billion, up 11.5 percent from last year. iPhone and Mac sales boosted the overall results, but iPad sales were down vs. last year by more than 9 percent, and CEO Tim Cook said that’s why Apple will partner with IBM to bring more iPads into the enterprise space.

It’s also been confirmed that Apple has been granted a patent for a smartwatch called iTime. Documents show Apple filed for the patent in July 2011. The iTime would act as a docking station for a device similar to the iPod Nano, according to the documents. Partners expect the iTime to come to market very soon, and a release would be the first new product line rolled out by Cook.

PUBLISHED JULY 25, 2014