Between October and December 2021, Microsoft recorded revenue of $51.7 billion and net profit of $18.8 billion. The Azure platform has seen its revenue grow by 46% over this period.
Microsoft ended 2021 on a high note with revenue of $51.7 billion and net profit of $18.8 billion. The Redmond firm was notably driven by the results of its cloud activity, also the cash cow of other American giants such as Amazon, the world leader in the sector. Microsoft’s Azure platform thus saw its revenues increase by 46% between October and December 2021. This increase should, however, be qualified with the 2020 financial year, during which Azure’s growth was around 60%. The Intelligent Cloud branch, which integrates Azure, recorded a turnover increase of 26% over one year.
Among other major lines of business in Satya Nadella’s group, the division that oversees the Office 365 office suite has seen an annual increase of 19%, while LinkedIn, its professional social network, has grown by 37%. The Xbox branch (content and services) for its part recorded a timid increase of 10%, against 40% a year earlier. However, this is a record quarter for Microsoft Gaming with quarterly revenue of 4.8 billion euros between October and December 2021.
The gaming division of the American group could be boosted in a few quarters by the recent takeover of Activision Blizzard, publisher of the famous series call of duty, Warcraftor candy Crush, for $68.7 billion. This operation should allow Microsoft to become the third player in the video game market, after Tencent and Sony, but also to enter fully into the metaverse, this parallel universe considered as the “future of the Internet” and intended to blur the boundaries between the real and virtual worlds.