22 Jul 2011

Record revenues at Microsoft

11:57 am on 22 July 2011

Annual revenues at Microsoft have hit a record of $US69.94 billion.

Sales of the company's Xbox 360 videogame console and its Office software helped fuel the growth.

Net income at the software maker jumped 23% to $US23.15 billion for the year.

Final quarter revenues reached a record high of $US1.37 billion, leading to profits of $US5.87 billion.

Sales rose 8% to $17.37 billion, a boosted chiefly by sales of Office, Xbox and server software behind Microsoft's push into cloud computing.

Ther BBC reports Microsoft's business division was the company's biggest seller in the quarter, increasing sales by 7% to $US5.8 billion.

Microsoft is the latest technology company to exceed profit expectations. Google, Apple and IBM all reported strong earnings recently.