Microsoft in first loss to date

Computing giant Microsoft has made the first
quarterly loss in its history after it wrote off
some of the value of its online advertising
business.
The loss came after it wrote down the value of
Aquantive by $6.2bn (£3.94bn; 5bn euros), which
failed to bring the profits expected by Microsoft.
That led to a $492m loss in the three months to
the end of June, compared with a profit
of $5.9bn a year ago.
The company has not made a loss since it joined
the stock market in 1986.
It took over Aquantive in 2007 but it struggled to
compete with rival Google.
Microsoft paid $6.3bn for Aquantive.
Microsoft is doing well in other areas, despite the
decline in popularity of its Windows operating
system, which dominated the personal computer
market for years.
Revenue for the three months to June rose by 4% to
$18.06bn.
Mosaic
Excluding the adjustment for the asset write-down,
and the holding back of some income related to the
launch of its Windows 8 system, Microsoft profits
beat those expected by investors.
Shares were up 1.6% after the results were
announced.
Microsoft says the update of the Windows systems
is the most important redesign in more than 10
years.
Windows 8, which will launch in October, will
feature a new look that will present applications in
a mosaic of tiles.
Importantly, it will also enable the operating system
to work on tablet computers, which along with
smartphones are the fastest-growing sector of the
computing market.
Microsoft is also planning to release its own tablet,
the Surface.
Earlier this week, Microsoft previewed its next
version of the Office software suite, which is
expected to be released next year

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