“Microsoft Corp shares fell more than 12 percent on Friday, their biggest plunge in 13 years, a day after the software company posted dismal quarterly results due to weak demand for its latest Windows system and poor sales of its Surface tablet,” Reuters reports.
“Friday’s loss means about $36 billion has been wiped off Microsoft’s market value in one day, exceeding the size of rival Yahoo Inc.,” Reuters reports. “Microsoft’s earnings were wrecked by a $900 million write down on the value of unsold Surface tablets after it cut prices in a bid to excite buyers.”
Reuters reports, “The poor results shocked Wall Street, which had believed the company’s strength with business customers would help it ride out a downturn in consumer PC sales. The results provoked fresh skepticism of Chief Executive Steve Ballmer’s new plan to reshape the company around devices and services, unveiled last week. ‘The recent reorganization does not fix the tablet or smartphone problem,’ said Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund in a note to clients on Friday. ‘The devices opportunity just received a $900 million hardware write-off for Surface RT and investors may not even like the idea of wading deeper into this territory.’ … Microsoft launched Surface tablets last year to challenge Apple Inc’s iPad, but their sales have failed to meet expectations.”
Read more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: Ah, this is perfect for a Friday evening and since it’s well after 5 o’clock:
May Steve Ballmer remain Microsoft CEO for as long as it takes!™ Hoist!
Happy weekend, everyone!
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