Opinion Articles

Thursday, August 4, 2011

Steve Ballmer and Rupert Murdoch - both troubled by their one-percent businesses

Mark Bridge writes:

Last month, News Corporation’s Rupert Murdoch said the News of the World had accounted for just 1% of his global business. It’s a figure that put the overall size of News Corp into perspective.

This week, some analysis of Microsoft’s financial results seems to suggest Windows Phone is only generating a similarly small percentage for its parent.

Form 10-K filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission says the Entertainment and Devices Division at Microsoft generated $8.716 billion in the most recent financial year (ending 30th June 2011). However, it also says the Xbox 360 gaming platform was responsible for over $8 billion of that.

Simple number-crunching from the Seattle Post-Intelligencer shows that just $613 million is left for revenue from Windows Phone, Zune, Mediaroom and Surface.

With total Microsoft revenue totalling £69.9 billion, it means Windows Phone is responsible for less than 1% of that.

Of course, Windows Phone devices didn’t start selling until the tail end of 2010 - and the potential boost of Nokia/Windows smartphone sales is yet to arrive - but it’s still a figure that Steve Ballmer would probably prefer not to be under discussion.


Talking of those Windows Phone devices from Nokia, a Nokia/Microsoft gaming party in Germany on 17th August is fuelling rumours that the official appearance of a Nokia WP7 smartphone - perhaps the much-leaked ‘Sea Ray’ prototype - could be just a couple of weeks away. I’m not convinced; we’ve been promised them by the end of 2011, so I’d say an October preview seems much more likely.

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Author: The Fonecast
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