Microsoft, Xbox 360 Division See Revenue Declines

Author: by Staff

Tech giant and Xbox creator Microsoft's fourth quarter ended with revenue 17 percent down to $13.10 billion, and profits down 29 percent to $3.05 billion. The company's Entertainment and Devices Division, which contains its games business, as well as the Zune and other miscellaneous items, saw a 25 percent year-over-year fourth quarter revenue decrease to $1.19 billion. But this primarily reflected shrinking Zune and Mediaroom revenue -- Xbox 360 platform and PC game revenue decreased $110 million or 12%. The company shipped 1.2 million Xbox 360 consoles in the quarter, slightly down compared with 1.3 million Xbox 360 consoles during the same timeframe last year. The EDD division's quarterly loss overall was $130 million, slightly decreased compared to a $171 million loss in the same quarter, a year prior. But for the twelve months ending June 30th, 2009, EDD was still in the black, managing a profit of $169 million. The firm shipped 11.2 million Xbox 360 consoles during fiscal year 2009, markedly up compared with 8.7 million Xbox 360 consoles during fiscal year 2008. The company noted that the Xbox 360 revenue "declined primarily as a result of decreased console sales and revenue per console due to price reductions during the past 12 months, partially offset by increased Xbox Live revenue." In documents released alongside its financials, Microsoft noted that its software attach rate is 8.6 games per console and "growing." Finally, the company says that Xbox Live membership is now up to a total of 20 million.