Cloud services again led the increase. Microsoft Azure recorded revenues up 93 percent year-on-year, and its computing usage more than doubled over the same period. Server products and cloud services also grew by 15 percent, leading to a total revenue increase of 11 percent in sales at the Intelligent Cloud business, to USD 6.76 billion. Operating profit was flat at USD 2.18 billion as costs rose to increase sales capacity and development.
Sales in Personal Computing were down 7 percent to USD 8.84 billion as lower phone and Surface sales (-26%) offset growth in Windows, search (+8%) and gaming (+4%). The withdrawal from the phone business helped reduce costs so operating profit was up 20 percent to USD 2.10 billion. Windows revenue rose 10 percent in the business market and was down 1 percent in consumer.
At the Productivity and Business Processes division, which includes LinkedIn, sales rose 22 percent to USD 7.96 billion, while operating profit fell 7 percent to USD 2.78 billion. Growth was led by office 365 commercial revenues, which rose 45 percent year-on-year, taking the service to over 100 million users. Consumer Office 365 subscribers reached 26.2 million.
For fiscal Q4, Microsoft forecast revenue of USD 7.2-7.4 billion for Intelligent Cloud, USD 8.2-8.4 billion for Productivity and Business Processes and USD 8.4-8.7 billion for Personal Computing.
