Jerimiah Yap

Something unheard of was reported by Microsoft in their second quarter report -- the tech giant posted a loss of $492 million; its first ever loss. The company Bill Gates built made only an unimpressive $192 million in income (that's before taxes). Microsoft's loss can be explained by the purchase of advertising firm aQuantive four years ago as the company posted a writedown as a result of the acquisition.

Last quarter Microsoft posted a revenue of $17.41 billion. This year during the same quarter, their revenue rose by $65 million to $18.06 billion but the company's earning per share still fell to $0.06.

According to Tech Crunch, "In the year-ago quarter, Microsoft reported a profit of $5.9 billion and $4.5 billion in Q4 2010. For the full fiscal year, Microsoft reported revenue, operating income, and earnings per share of $73.72 billion, $21.76 billion, and $2.00 per share. "

Before even Microsoft announced its second quarter report, analysts already expected the company to post its first ever loss. It was not because the company performed badly. It was because of the failed purchase of aQuantive.

Microsoft's search engine Bing also posted a loss during the second quarter which amounts to $479 million.

Microsoft remains optimistic that revenue will increase to an estimated $500 million because of its release of operating system Windows 8 before the year ends. Also expected is their first tablet, the Surface table which is slated for release in October.

Chief Executive Officer Steve Ballmer said via Tech Crunch:

"We delivered record fourth quarter and annual revenue, and we're fast approaching the most exciting launch season in Microsoft history. Over the coming year, we'll release the next versions of Windows, Office, Windows Server, Windows Phone, and many other products and services that will drive our business forward and provide unprecedented opportunity to our customers and partners."