Microsoft this afternoon posted earnings per share of 76 cents for the December quarter, beating Wall Street’s expectations by 1 cent. However, the company’s revenue of $21.46 billion for the quarter fell just short of analysts’ expectations.

The quarter included the launch of key Microsoft products Windows 8 and the Surface tablet. Revenue in the Windows division rose 24 percent to $5.88 billion when including revenue that had been deferred from previous quarters because of accounting rules related to Windows 8 upgrade promotions. Excluding that extra revenue, the actual increase for the quarter was 11 percent.

Microsoft says it has sold 60 million Windows 8 licenses so far, but the company isn’t disclosing unit sales figures for Windows Phone or the Surface as part of its earnings report.

Revenue in the company’s Entertainment & Devices Division, home to the Xbox, decreased 11 percent to $3.77 billion based in part on lower sales of the Xbox 360 console. Microsoft shipped 5.9 million Xbox 360s during the quarter, compared with 8.2 million a year earlier. The revenue decline was only 2 percent in this division when adjusting for $380 million in deferred revenue based on game content that won’t be delivered until later.

Revenue was down 10 percent to $5.69 billion in the Microsoft Business Division, but that was due in part to the deferral of revenue related to promotions for the upcoming launch of a new Office version.

In the Online Services Division, revenue was up 11 percent to $869 million, and the loss in that division narrowed to $283 million, from a loss of $459 million in the same quarter a year ago.

Server & Tools revenue was up 9 percent to $5.1 billion.

Here’s Microsoft’s 10Q filing with the SEC. The company’s conference call is coming up at 2:30 p.m.

Here’s a Microsoft slide breaking down the trends in the Windows business.

 

Like what you're reading? Subscribe to GeekWire's free newsletters to catch every headline

Job Listings on GeekWork

Find more jobs on GeekWork. Employers, post a job here.