10 TECH ADVISOR • MAY 2020
NEWS
fairlysubstantiallyduringthefirstquarter,Microsoft
said,dueto a variety of factors. The first, of course,
is seasonality: consumers buy far less during the first
calendarquarterthantheydoduringtheholidays.
Thenthere are flagging parts of the business, such as
search advertising revenue, which dropped from 14
percent growth a year ago to just 6 percent.
Microsoft also acknowledged that the PC market
supplychainis changingtoadjustforreduced
demand.ThecorporatePCmarkethastilybought
newWindows 10 PCs in advance of the 14 January
deadline that just passed, when Microsoft stopped
supporting Windows 7. Windows OEM revenue in
the current quarter might grow just by low to mid-
singledigits,Hoodsaid.Overall,theMPCrevenue
outlookrangesbetween$10.75-and$12.05bn
(around£8.29-and£9.29bn),a widerspreadthan
normal.Hoodcalledouttheuncertaintyofthe
publiccoronavirus health scare in China, too.
It’s unclear what Hood meant when she predicted
low single-digit growth for Surface as the company
“works through challenges in the consumer segment”.
Neither Hood nor Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella
explained whether Hood was referring to slower-than-
expected sales in consumer Surface devices (versus
Surface for Business sales), or whether Microsoft
had designated certain devices like the Surface
Go as specifically consumer products. (A Microsoft
representativedeclinedtocommentfurtherwhen
askedto clarify Hood’s remarks.)
Gaming revenue, which Microsoft said fell 21
percent, will be understandably slow at the moment.
