Microsoft Posts Record Earnings, But Still Losing Billions on the Web

Microsoft Posts Record Earnings, But Still Losing Billions on the Web

Microsoft is out with its latest earnings report, with strong sales of Windows 7, Office 2010 and Xbox 360 helping push the company to a quarterly revenue record of $16.2 billion.

The company’s online division also posted sales growth -- $527 million for the quarter versus $487 million during the same period last year – but lost a staggering $560 million. At that pace, Microsoft is losing more than $2 billion per year from its online ventures.

Of course, the company is putting a more positive spin on the online numbers, noting in its earnings release that “for yet another quarter, Bing continued to grow market share, while achieving major milestones in implementing Microsoft’s partnership with Yahoo.”

On a related note, Microsoft and Yahoo completed the migration of Yahoo advertisers to Microsoft’s adCenter on Wednesday, a move that both companies hope will greatly benefit their top and bottom lines going forward. Still, the huge loss indicates that Microsoft has a long way to go in terms of building a profitable Internet business.

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