Windows revenue falls 13%, share of sales drops to 23%

Computerworld - Weak sales of Windows last quarter dropped the operating system division to its second-lowest share of Microsoft's total revenue since the third quarter of 2009, the period just before the launch of Windows 7.

One analyst saw that as a good thing.

"Over the last 10 years, they have weaned themselves off the operating system and [become] a very different kind of company," said Patrick Moorhead, principal analyst at Moor Insights & Strategy. "Microsoft is a commercial software company, not an OS company. And I see that as a positive."

The Windows and Windows Live group posted sales of $4.1 billion during the three months ending June 30, a drop of 12.5% from the same period the year before.

Revenue was reduced by the $540 million that Microsoft deferred to cover the upgrade deal it kicked off last month that offers buyers of new Windows 7 PCs a $14.99 upgrade to Windows 8.

Even minus that deduction, the Windows division would still have posted a downturn compared to the second quarter of 2011. In that case, the revenue decline would have been a much smaller 1.2%.

As it has for several quarters, Microsoft blamed poor PC sales for the weak Windows numbers.

The company estimated that global PC sales were flat for the quarter, with business system sales up 1% but sales to consumers down 2%. Those numbers were in sync with estimates by research firms IDC and Gartner, which said earlier this month that global sales were down 0.1%, in part because consumers have diverted spending to tablets and smartphones, particularly Apple's iPad and handsets powered by Google's Android.

Peter Klein, Microsoft CFO, argued that Windows 8 would eventually give the Windows division a boost, but said not to expect great things next quarter unless PC sales suddenly shoot up.

"Excluding the impact of the deferrals associated with the Windows Upgrade Offer and pre-sales [of Windows to OEMs], we expect Windows revenue to slightly trail the PC market for the quarter," said Klein during the company's earnings call with Wall Street analysts Thursday.

Windows sales continue to fall as a percentage of Microsoft revenue. (Data: Microsoft.)

The portion of the firm's total revenue of $18.1 billion generated by Windows was just 23%, the lowest figure since the fourth quarter of 2011, when the division accounted for 22.7% of all sales. The smallest percentage of revenue booked by Windows in the last four years was 20.3% in the third quarter of 2009, the three-month stretch that preceded the launch of the popular Windows 7.

A year ago, Windows accounted for 27.3% of all Microsoft revenue.

The third quarter's numbers for Windows will be even bleaker because of additional revenue deferments that Microsoft will take related to the Windows Upgrade Offer.