The division of Microsoft that includes its Xbox 360 business saw its best holiday quarter on record, with roughly $4.24 billion in sales driven largely by the console and its games.
The division of Microsoft that includes its Xbox 360 business saw its best holiday quarter on record, with roughly $4.24 billion in sales driven largely by the console and its games. Its Entertainment and Devices unit reported sales of $4.24 billion, a 15 percent increase from the $3.6 billion it brought in during the same period last year. This division includes all of the company's Xbox products, as well as Windows Phone and Skype. When put in perspective, the revenue from these products and services made up roughly 20.3 percent of the $20.8 billion from Microsoft brought in across all of its divisions for the quarter ended December 31, 2011. By comparison, Microsoft brought in $19.9 billion overall during this period last year. Once again, the Entertainment and Devices division remained profitable, bringing in $530 million in operating income, down 28 percent year over year. Overall, the division's profits for the quarter made up just 6.7 percent of the company's overall profits of $7.9 billion, down from 8.2 billion during this period one year ago. In particular, this quarter marked some very strong sales for the Xbox 360 hardware. Microsoft pointed out that it shipped 8.2 million Xbox 360 consoles during its second fiscal quarter, up from 6.3 million consoles shipped during this time last year. Combined revenues from Xbox products grew by $322 million -- or 9 percent year over year -- and were driven by the increased sales of Xbox 360 consoles and rising revenues from Xbox Live, though this growth was offset somewhat by decreased sales for the standalone Kinect hardware. Factoring in this latest fiscal quarter, Microsoft said it has now sold 66 million Xbox 360 consoles and 18 million Kinect sensors worldwide. In addition, Xbox Live now boasts some 40 million registered members, up 33 percent from this period last year. Looking beyond its video game products, Microsoft also pointed out that revenues from Skype also helped bolster quarterly revenue for the Entertainment and Devices division. This is the first quarter Skype has factored into Microsoft's quarterly earnings, as it was officially acquired in October.
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