Microsoft 2Q earnings edge down on slow PC sales

SEATTLE (AP) — Microsoft Corp. today said its net income for the latest quarter fell slightly from a year ago, and it beat Wall Street's expectations despite the weak personal computer market.

Microsoft's net income for the October-December quarter was $6.63 billion, compared with $6.66 billion in the same period last year. Thanks to stock buybacks, net income rose to 77 cents per share, from 74 cents. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting net income of 69 cents per share for the fiscal second quarter.

Much of Microsoft's business depends on selling copies of the Windows operating system and Office desktop software, products that rise and fall with fluctuations in the personal computer market.

Revenue plunged 30 percent in the Windows division to $5.1 billion, in a quarter when worldwide personal computer shipments only grew about 3 percent, as Apple Inc.'s iPad and the promise of more tablet devices to come made consumers think twice about what kind of device to buy.