Ibexx & All, Here's some of what the "slowdown" year will bring
biz.yahoo.com
- R&D spendind to increase to $2.6 billion in FY98, from $2.2 billion in FY97. R&D headcount to increase of 11,600 from 8,800.
- Unearned (deferred) revenues to rise to $2 billion at end of FY98, from $1.4 billion at end of FY97.
So, we have "only" an 18% increase in R&D spending and "only" a 32% increase in R&D headcount (and, from earlier info, expectations of "only" a 25% increase in realized (non-deferred) revenues].
[Of course, we should know by now that the CFO's revenue projection is one fabricated from the low end of all the ranges - i.e., assuming that all product lines meet their pessimistic estimate. But let's leave this aside for the moment.]
In this slowdown year, the CFO says that the deferred revenues pile will RISE BY 43%, to $2 billion, by end of FY98. [In the world of high finance, this is what is called "saving for a sunny day".] This is of course after MSFT has drawn from the pile (realizes substantial prior deferred revenues). Yup, looks like FY98 will be a pretty bad year.
This is all getting just too comical.
Best regards,
Arno |
