Microsoft Refuses to Reveal Current Vista Sales

Microsoft on Thursday reported a 65 percent jump in third quarter profits, buoyed by sales of its latest operating system, Vista. Exactly how many Microsoft has sold, however, is still a mystery.

Revenue for the quarter was up 32 percent to $14.4 billion, versus $10.9 billion for the same quarter last year. About $1.7 billion of that was money Microsoft transferred from the second quarter to account for upgrade coupons customers received before the Vista and Office 2007 launch, executives said. Without that $1.7 billion, revenue would have grown by 17 percent, said Colleen Healy, general manager of investor relations.

Microsoft expects revenue to drop to a range of $13.1 billion to $13.4 billion for its current quarter, which ends June 30.

Microsoft's client unit saw $5.3 billion in revenue, server and tools had $2.7 billion in revenue and its business division took in $4.8 billion, according to filings.

Chief Financial Officer Chris Liddell said he was "extremely pleased" with results that "exceeded our expectations." Vista and Office 2007 will have a "multi-year impact, both are off to a very good start," he said during a conference call Thursday.

Liddell declined to provide exact numbers on how many units of Vista the company had sold. It was reported in March that Microsoft had sold 20 million licenses for the software.