CEO Steve Ballmer.... Microsoft faces first public loss!

Tech giant Microsoft Inc faced it’s first quarterly loss in it’s 26-year history after it wrote down the value of Aquantive by £4 billion earlier this month.

Aquantive, Microsoft’s online advertising business, failed to make profits expected by the Redmond giant and the write-off has wiped out the value of the company’s largest acquisition. The company joined the stock market in 1986 and has since then never registered a quarterly loss until now.

The first loss is reported to be £307 million for the quarter ending in June as compared to the profit of £3.75 billion a year ago. However, the loss was already anticipated by analysts and has not affected the shares of the company on the stock exchange. Microsoft is performing well in other areas with a recent announcement of the much-awaited Windows 8 release due on October 26.

The overall revenue this quarter still rose by four percent accounting to £11.5 billion. In fact, share went up by 1.6 percent after the announcement of quarterly results. The tech giant is highly betting on the flaghsip Windows operating system, which is touted to be most critical redesign in more than a decade. The new version has been announced to be a ‘one-for-all’ system providing seamless user experience across desktops, laptops, tablets and smartphones.

The company is constantly juggling patent battles, acquisitions and newer launches with Microsoft branded first tablets due for release later this year. Associate partners including giants Samsung, HTC, Nokia and Intel have shown great support for various mobile and desktop launches of the tech giant.

More on this topic:

Microsoft in £4 billion write-down of Aquantive
TechBreak: Microsoft announces Window 8 release date – October 26
Microsoft buys Yammer for £770 million