Microsoft announces first quarterly loss in 26 years

Microsoft announced its first quarterly loss in 26 years as a publicly traded company.

The loss reflects a poor showing in online advertising business, according to USA Today. The report says that the software giant took a $6.2 billion charge because the puchase of aQuantive, an online ad service, did not perform as expected.

The result was a $492 million loss in the April-June quarter, the equivalent of 6 cents per share. The announcement also reflects rival Google’s expanding reach in online advertising.

Microsoft still recorded an annual profit close to $17 billion, according to Yahoo, and revenues for the quarter were higher than expected. In October, the company will launch Windows 8, its new operating system, followed by the Surface, Microsoft’s hardware debut into the expanding field of tablets.