Microsoft by the numbers and what they mean

There was an interesting post earlier today from the Official Microsoft Blog on some facts about Microsoft. Here were some of the interesting numbers that were posted:

7.1 million
Projected iPad sales for 2010. ^[source]

58 million
Projected netbook sales in 2010. ^[source]

355 million
Projected PC sales in 2010. ^[source]

Translation: Despite the iPad being an alleged “magical” device, it’s not going to supplant the other traditional PC form factors anytime soon. All of us living and breathing in the tech industry may belong in a class of people that can afford to pay $500 for a consumption device. However, we are different from the majority of the rest of the world.

8.8 million
Global iPhone sales in Q1 2010. ^[source]

21.5 million
Nokia smartphone sales in Q1 2010. ^[source]

55 million
Total smartphone sales globally in Q1 2010. ^[source]

439 million
Projected global smartphone sales in 2014. ^[source]

Translation: Is Windows Phone 7 too little, too late? One can debate whether it’s too little or not, but it’s certainly not too late. There is still an awful lot of pie to be made in the near future, and if Microsoft executes Windows Phone 7 well, it may very well be positioned to grab a huge portion of it.

$5.7 Billion
Apple Net income for fiscal year ending  Sep 2009. ^[source]

$6.5 Billion
Google Net income for fiscal year ending Dec 2009. ^[source]

$14.5 Billion
Microsoft Net Income for fiscal year ending June 2009. ^[source]

Translation: Yes, the second largest technology company in the world still makes two-and-a-half times more profit than the largest technology company in the world. Despite all the doom and gloom scenarios painted by pundits this week, as long as people still love Windows and enterprises still continue to choose Windows servers 7 times out of 10, Microsoft’s future prospects continue to remain bright.