Microsoft Mobility Unit Sees Big Revenue Increase

The detailed results for Microsoft's most recent financial quarter are now available. The CE/Mobility unit, which includes Pocket PC, Handheld PC, and all CE operating systems, saw its revenues increase significantly, though not enough for the unit to be profitable.

Revenues for the quarter totaled $22 million, which is a nearly 25% increase over the $17 million in revenues from same quarter a year ago. Revenues for second half of 2002 total $39 million, compared to $31 million from the second half of 2001.

Unfortunately, this still wasn't enough to make the Mobility unit a profitable part of Microsoft. Its expenses for the quarter totaled $61 million, meaning the unit had a loss of $39 million. This is still a notable improvement over the last quarter of 2001, when it had a loss of $61 million.

According to Microsoft's FTC filing, "The increase in revenue was driven by increased Pocket PC shipments and market acceptance of Windows CE, offset by declines in revenue from Handheld PCs."

Microsoft doesn't reveal what it makes in licensing fees or how many Pocket PCs were made during the quarter.

Overall, the software giant had revenues of $8.54 billion and a profit of $1.97 billion.

These results cover the October through December 2002 time frame. This is the second quarter of Microsoft's 2003 financial year.