Microsoft has reported record results for a first quarter, posting $16.2 billion (10.2 billion) for the three months leading up to 30 September.
This represented a 25 per cent increase from the same quarter in 2009 as the Redmond giant beat market forecasts.
Net income was up 51 per cent to reach $5.4 billion and said the positive performance was down to increased sales of Windows 7, Office 2010 and Xbox 360 consoles and games.
"This was an exceptional quarter," said Peter Klein, chief financial officer at Microsoft.
"Our ability to grow revenue while continuing to control costs allowed us to deliver another quarter of year-over-year margin expansion."
Microsoft also saw its Bing search engine increase its market share and claimed to have seen notable excitement around its cloud computing products.
"We are seeing improved business demand and adoption. Our enterprise agreement rates were strong, reflecting business commitment to Windows 7, Office 2010, and our server and database products," added Kevin Turner, chief operating officer at Microsoft.
"Customer demand and excitement for our cloud and commercial online services continue to grow as demonstrated by major new customer wins this quarter for Windows Azure and by the significant customer interest in our recently announced Office 365 service."
Microsoft has now has reaffirmed its business outlook for the full year ending 30 June 2011 with an operating expense guidance of between $26.9 billion to $27.3 billion.
The results offer more evidence for the resiliency of the IT sector, following other positive quarterly reports from SAP, Citrix, Google and others.
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