Microsoft

Live blog: Microsoft's earnings call

After posting disappointing earnings and disclosing plans to lay off 5,000 workers, Microsoft held a call with financial analysts. Here's our minute-by-minute coverage of the call, in reverse chronological order.

8:56 a.m. PST: Call has ended.

8:55 a.m. PST: Ballmer on Yahoo: "I don't think we have anything to say about Yahoo." He said the company has been quite public that it remains interested in a search deal. On Yahoo's new CEO: "I know Carol Bartz...(I'm) glad to see her at the helm of Yahoo." Ballmer … Read more

Ballmer's e-mail to employees regarding layoffs

From: Steve Ballmer Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 6:07 AM Subject: Realigning Resources and Reducing Costs

In response to the realities of a deteriorating economy, we're taking important steps to realign Microsoft's business. I want to tell you about what we're doing and why.

Today we announced second quarter revenue of $16.6 billion. This number is an increase of just 2 percent compared with the second quarter of last year and it is approximately $900 million below our earlier expectations.

The fact that we are growing at all during the worst recession in two generations … Read more

Microsoft cutting 5,000 jobs on weak results

Microsoft said Thursday its sales and earnings for the December quarter fell well below expectations and announced a series of cost-cutting moves, including its first-ever companywide layoffs.

The software maker said it will cut up to 5,000 jobs, or 5 percent of its workforce, over the next 18 months. About 1,400 jobs were eliminated immediately. The software maker is also paring other expenses, such as delaying salary increases and cutting back on vendors and contractors.

Amid slow PC sales, revenue for the quarter came in at $16.63 billion for its fiscal second quarter that ended December 31, … Read more

PC sales slump to bite even Microsoft

With the PC market tanking along with the rest of the economy, Microsoft is seen as unlikely to be able to live up to the financial forecast it issued in October.

The company is set to release its quarterly earnings after the markets close on Thursday.

In a further sign of just how rough the economy is, Microsoft is also expected to announce shortly its plans for a significant, companywide layoffs. Although Microsoft has cut jobs in a particular unit or location in the past, it has managed to navigate through all past downturns without having to resort to such … Read more

Microsoft's internal org chart down amid layoff chatter

With rumors of layoffs swirling, some Microsoft workers were dismayed on Wednesday to discover that the company's online internal organizational chart tool is scheduled to be down until Friday.

According to several online postings on Wednesday, those using the tool, known as Headtrax, got the following message:

"The Headtrax application is unavailable at this time and is expected to be back up again on January 23rd."

Workers were not reassured by the message, given that Microsoft announces its quarterly earnings on Thursday and is expected by many to soon detail the company's first-ever companywide layoffs. (It … Read more

Ex-Microsoft exec Berkowitz named CEO at Move

Online real estate site operator Move said on Wednesday that it is tapping former Microsoft executive Steve Berkowitz to serve as its next chief executive.

Berkowitz, who was Microsoft's senior VP of online services until last year, was CEO of Ask.com and IDG Books before joining Microsoft and said in a statement that he was happy to be in the top spot once again. He joined the board of job site TheLadders.com in August.

At Move, Berokowitz succeeds W. Michael Long, who is retiring from the company and its board.

"The board and Mike have been … Read more

Awaiting Microsoft's cuts

The uncertainty surrounding Microsoft's cost-cutting plan is likely to last only another day, until the software maker announces earnings Thursday.

That's when many people expect the company will detail its plans, which will likely include the company's first-ever companywide layoffs.

In the absence of hard facts, the guessing game goes on. I was fond of Todd Bishop's post at TechFlash on "Five things we really wouldn't miss" if Microsoft cut them.

Zune hardware tops the list, which also includes Microsoft's little-known YouTube rival Soapbox, and its search business. Although it seems very … Read more

Microsoft's Photosynth captures inaugural moment

Microsoft's Photosynth is an impressive tool for stitching together dozens of photos to allow a place or event to be viewed from multiple angles.

The only hard part is it really takes 75 photos or more to get the optimal experience. That's a lot of work for one photographer. But, with big events, one can also rely on crowdsourcing. Which is what CNN has done with the inaugural, asking viewers to send in their photos of Barack Obama's swearing in.

The resulting Photosynth is pretty cool. (It requires Silverlight for viewing.)

For Microsoft, it marks a high-profile … Read more

Microsoft unloads Comcast stake

Microsoft has sold all of its shares in Comcast, according to an SEC filing made on Friday.

As of its latest public disclosure in March, the software maker held 150.9 million shares in the cable company.

Although Microsoft is certainly not hard up for cash, the move comes as the company is weighing a range of cuts, including layoffs as it deals with the weak economy.

Microsoft took the huge stake in the cable industry as part of its effort to become a player in interactive television. Although it scored minor deals with Comcast over the years, its biggest … Read more