Windows Revenue Q4 2011 Disappoints Microsoft: Lowest Since 2009 !

Microsoft has always been ostentatious about its operating system, and now, Windows 8 is going to get launch this year. The excitation could be seen when Windows 8 developer preview incredibly marked 3 million downloads in just three months after its introduction in September 2011. But, it’s astounding that Windows’ contribution in Microsoft’s revenue has reached to its lowest level in last quarter, as per the company statistics released on Thursday. This is the fifth consecutive quarterly loss for the company and makes the windows unit desolate.

The Windows division accounted for 22.7% of the company’s total sales by the quarter ending on Dec 31, which is the lowest sales since third quarter of 2009- just weeks before Windows 7 launched.

Windows’ revenue is $4.74 billion in the last quarter of 2011; mount down by 6.1% from $5.06 billion in the same period a year before. Whereas, the total revenue generate by Microsoft in Q4 2011 is $20.89 billion. It’s depicted from Microsoft’s figure (provided below); Windows percentage of income and revenue was at the peak in last quarter of 2009. 

fig: Windows’ contributions to Microsoft’s revenue and income were the lowest since the third quarter of 2009. (Data: Microsoft.)

The Operating income—subtracting all expenses before taxes from revenue—of Windows has been following falling trend. Windows contributed 35.7% to Microsoft’s total operating income in the last quarter 2011, which was the lowest since the 32.6% posted in Q3 of 2009. Windows has dropped to third position in Microsoft’s revenue lineup in Q4 2011, behind both Office and the company’s server software.

Correlating the PC and Windows’ sales, an analyst with Technology Business Research—Allan Krans—said, “Windows’ problem wasn’t limited to parts shortages. While the latest decline … can be attributed in part to decrease PC shipments caused by 4Q flooding in Thailand … the 4Q11 result follows the recurring trend of decreased PC shipments and resulting decline in Windows sales.”

Last year, the flood in Thailand had flattered to the global economic growth especially to hard disk drive (HDD) manufacturers. It’s well known that, Thailand has become one of the main hubs for drive manufacturing. That’s why, Microsoft also blamed the flood in Thailand for the tightened supply of the hard disk drives at the financial analyst conference on Thursday. Whatever may be the reasons, but definitely Windows’s performance is not up-to-mark, and it’s the time for the company to get back to drawing table.