MAY 2020 • TECH ADVISOR 9dollar business. Interestingly, chief financial officer
Amy Hood implied that sales could have been higher,
referringtounexplained“executionchallenges”in
theconsumer portion of the Surface business.
Overall, Microsoft reported profits of $11.6bn
(around £8.9bn) during the second quarter of its fiscal
2020 calendar, up 38 percent from a year ago, from
revenue of $36.9bn (around £28.45bn), up 14 percent
from the same period.
The More Personal Computing business that
includesWindows,Xbox,andSurfacestillgenerates
themost revenue at $13.2bn (around £10.17bn).
However,it reportedjusttwopercentgrowth– and
thatwas better than expected, Hood said, due to
strong Windows PC sales.
Microsoft’s growth is primarily being driven by the
Intelligent Cloud business, and specifically Microsoft
Azure. The Intelligent Cloud business recorded $11.
billion in revenue, growing by a whopping 27 percent.
Within that business, Azure grew by 62 percent just
by itself. In all, Intelligent Cloud once again edged
out Microsoft’s Productivity and Business Processes
($11.8bn, around £9.1bn) in terms of revenue.
Microsoft’sProductivityandBusinessProcesses
- Office and Microsoft Dynamics, plus related services
- saw 17 percent growth, fuelled by 20 percent growth
in Office 365 consumer revenue and 37.2 million
consumer subscribers.
Uncertainty in consumer business
Microsoft’s MPC business faces more uncertainty
than it has in the past. Revenue is expected to drop