Microsoft Azure revenue up 98% in latest earnings

Having posted its Q2 2018 financial earnings report for the quarter ended 31 December 2017, Microsoft saw its total revenue rise 12% throughout the quarter to $28.9bn.

This equated to an operating income of $8.7bn, up 10% from the previous quarter, driven by increases across Microsoft’s portfolio.

See also:

• Microsoft acquires Avere Systems to bolster its cloud strategy

• AWS loses ground to Microsoft in public cloud computing market

• Nordcloud partners with Microsoft to enhance Azure-based AI services

However, a significant proportion of this can be attributed to Microsoft's Azure cloud services after the unit recorded growth of over 90% for a 10th straight quarter, with revenues up 98% for the three months ended 31 December.

“This quarter’s results speak to the differentiated value we are delivering to customers across our productivity solutions and as the hybrid cloud provider of choice,” said Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft. “Our investments in IoT, data, and AI services across cloud and the edge position us to further accelerate growth.”

The US tech giant has signed a number significant cloud computing deals throughout the quarter in the aim of bolstering its cloud strategy, including a new partnership with Nordcloud, one of Europe’s fastest growing cloud providers, and the acquisition of Avere Systems.

Microsoft will continue to put pressure on Amazon Web Services (AWS), the largest cloud computing service operator, off the back of its strong performance.

According Q3 2017 estimates from research company Canalys, Microsoft is in the number two spot with a 13.9% market share, some way behind Amazon’s 31.8%.