Microsoft’s Q2 2015 Earnings Show Rising Lumia, Surface Sales

Microsoft’s earnings are up, driven in part to blazing sales of the Microsoft Lumia smartphones and Surface tablets. In its quarterly earnings statement, Microsoft announced that it had revenue of nearly $26.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 2014, up 8 percent from the same quarter a year earlier.

Microsoft Lumia 435 helped drive sales growth last quarter
Microsoft's Lumia 435 Smartphone.

Microsoft’s entry-level Lumia smartphones have been getting plenty of attention from the press, and it turns out that they’re getting love from customers, too. The Lumia is one of the better-known phones at the lower end of the market, probably due in part to Microsoft/Nokia brand recognition. In the last quarter, Microsoft sold 10.5 million Lumia phones, driving a total phone hardware revenue of $2.3 billion.

The other device to have a great quarter is the Surface. Microsoft pointed to sales driven by the Surface Pro 3 for overall Microsoft tablet and accessories sales of $1.1 billion, up 24 percent. Microsoft had a fun Surface Pro 3 ad this holiday season that compared the tablet to the iPad Air.  

The Surface Pro 3 was a big winner for Microsoft in Q4 2014.
Microsoft Surface general manager Panos Panay at the Surface Pro 3's unveiling.

Bing is also looking rosy, with advertising up 23 percent, and Office 365 Home and Personal subscriptions increased 30 percent from the previous quarter to 9.2 million subscriptions. Windows OEM sales are down, though. Windows 10 can’t come too soon.

Commercial revenue also grew and is at $13.3 billion for the quarter. The most interesting news to come from the commercial revenue report is Office 365, Azure and Dynamic CRM Online drove cloud revenue growth by 114 percent this quarter. Indeed, Office is a success story for Microsoft in its shift to cloud services.