Microsoft reported record revenue for its fiscal fourth quarter plus substantial growth in profits. The company's revenue also topped rival Apple, which was considered a possibility to overtake Microsoft in revenue this week.

Microsoft reported record revenue for its fiscal fourth quarter plus substantial growth in profits. The company's revenue also topped rival , which was considered a possibility to this week.

Microsoft said its strong results were predicated on the launch of , but did not provide sales figures for the new suite. Peter Klein, Microsoft's chief financial officer, called the results "broad and deep," in a conference call with analysts, with double-digit growth enjoyed by every division.

Klein, however, refused to comment on the overall business cycle. When asked about the corporate PC refresh many expect for this year, Klein responded that "it is early in the refresh cycle, so we should watch it".

Microsoft reported net income of $4.52 billion on revenue of $16.04 billion for the fourth quarter, an increase of 48 percent and 22 percent from a year ago. Those numbers reflected overall OEM license growth of 26 percent, and PC unit growth of between 22 and 24 percent.

"This quarter's record revenue reflects the breadth of our offerings and our continued product momentum," said Klein said in an earlier statement. "The revenue growth, combined with our ongoing cost discipline, helped us achieve another quarter of margin expansion."

During the quarter, Microsoft launched Office 2010, its next version of its flagship Office product. Microsoft's Business Division reported revenue of $5.25 billion, up from $4.57 billion a year ago, where Microsoft reported a 51 percent improvement in consumer growth. Klein called that a "great start" and a "very strong number".

Microsoft's Business Division continued to outperform its other segments, including the Windows and Windows Live Division, which recorded $4.55 billion in revenue, a sharp jump compared to the $3.17 billion in revenue the division recorded a year ago. Microsoft's total OEM revenue for the Windows division grew by 31 percent; Microsoft executives characterized its Windows business as "thriving".

Microsoft's Business Division grew 15 percent, with 51 percent growth in consumer and 8 percent in business.

Microsoft's Server and Tools business recorded $4.01 billion versus $3.52 billion for the same period a year ago. The division saw record growth of 14 percent, with annual annuity growth of 15 percent. Windows Server, SQL Server, and System Center all grew by double digits. Microsoft said the number of virtualization suites nearly doubled, with the Windows Server premium mix hitting 25 percent.

Entertainment devices reported $1.6 billion versus $1.26 billion, as Microsoft sold 1.5 million Xboxes. Membership within Microsoft's Xbox Live service now stands at over 25 million. The amount consumers spent within the Xbox Live Digital Marketplace revenue exceeded subscription revenue, Microsoft said; 23 percent of revenue came from titles other than games, or TV and movies. , , and the Xbox game "Halo:Reach" are all on the horizon, the company said.

Microsoft's lagging online services business reported $565 million, versus $501 million a year ago, as online advertising revenue grew by 19 percent. The market share of Microsoft Bing has grown by 4 points since its launch, Microsoft said.

"We saw strong sales execution across all of our businesses, particularly in the enterprise with Windows 7 and Office 2010," said Kevin Turner, chief operating officer, in a statement. "Our transition to cloud services is well underway with offerings like Windows Azure and our Business Productivity Online Services, and we look forward to continuing our product momentum this fall with the upcoming launches of Windows Phone 7 and Xbox Kinect."

Microsoft has recorded 175 million licenses for Windows 7 to date, the company said.

For the fiscal year ended June 30, 2010, Microsoft reported record revenue of $62.48 billion, a 7 percent increase from the prior year. Net income was $18.76 billion, 26 percent higher than the prior year.

Microsoft declined to offer revenue guidance for the company as a while, saying only that it planned to record $26.9 billion to $27.3 billion in operating expenses for the full year ending June 30, 2011. But it said that its Windows division would record revenue in line with PC sales, minus the Windows 7 launch "spike" as well as some deferred revenue. Microsoft's business division will track annuity costs with low- to mid-single digits, and non-annuity sales will track hardware sales, as Microsoft said it would for its server division as well. Microsoft predicted its Entertainment and Services division would grow in the "mid-teens," while online ad sales would outgrow the market.

Editor's Note: This story was updated at 3:07 PM PT with additional details from Microsoft's conference call.