Associated Press
Friday, January 25, 2008

SEATTLE, Jan. 24 -- Microsoft said Thursday that its fiscal second-quarter profit climbed 79 percent, buoyed by rising sales of Windows-based personal computers.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, profit increased to $4.71 billion from $2.63 billion in the comparable period a year earlier. Revenue rose 30 percent, to $16.37 billion.

The quarter was particularly strong when compared with a year ago, when the software maker deferred more than $1 billion in revenue due to delays in getting Windows Vista, its newest operating system, to consumers.

Microsoft's client division, responsible for Vista, posted revenue of $4.34 billion. The company said it has sold 100 million copies of Vista since its January 2007 launch.

The business division, which includes Office, brought in $4.81 billion in sales.

Sales from the division responsible for the Xbox 360 game console and the Zune digital media player edged up 3 percent, to $3.06 billion. The division swung to a quarterly profit of $357 million from a loss of $302 million last year.

Revenue from Microsoft's online services business, mainly online advertising sales, rose 38 percent, but the division widened its loss in the quarter, to $245 million from $118 million a year ago.

Shares of Microsoft rose in extended trading after gaining $1.32, or 4 percent, to close the regular session at $33.25.