Microsoft's Entertainment and Devices Division (the part of the company responsible for the Xbox 360) saw a dramatic increase in revenue for Q3 2013. For the quarter ended March 31, 2013, the division posted revenue of $2.53 billion, an impressive increase of 56% from the same period in 2012. It should be noted, this division also includes Windows Phone and Skype.
The most impressive takeaway from today's earnings report is that Xbox LIVE now boasts 46 million members; however, the company didn't specify how many of those members are actually paid-subscribers. Anyway you slice it, this is an 18% increase year-over-year.
“Our diverse business continues to deliver solid financial results, even as we navigate the evolving device market,” said Microsoft's chief financial officer Peter Klein. “Looking ahead, we will continue to invest in long-term growth opportunities to drive our devices and services strategy forward and deliver ongoing value to shareholders.”
Looking ahead, it's widely expected that Microsoft will unveil the Xbox 360's successor relatively soon — some believing as early as this May. While the Xbox 360 became one of the more dominant consoles of this generation, Microsoft will face some stiff competition in the next round thanks to the growing mobile trend. There's also the looming threats of Apple and Valve possibly entering the home console ring. Either way, Microsoft is looking at much more competition this time around, and not just from Sony's PS4 and Nintendo's Wii U.
On the whole, the entire Microsoft corporation generated a quarterly revenue of $20.49 billion.
