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Where Microsoft's Profits Come From
derrida writes "Microsoft is the largest, most profitable software company in the world. In case you had any doubts about where Microsoft's profit comes from, there's nothing better than a graph to make all those numbers clear. As you may have guessed, the desktop division is quite profitable, while the online division is a money pit."
Isn't 2007 the one with the ribbon that no one can use? Doesn't that make it a new product, the fact that no one knows how to use it anymore?
When you're afraid to download music illegally in your own home, then the terrorists have won!
What I would find interesting is to know what events occurred during the valleys and rapid climb moments indicated in the graph. Specifically, what happened in Dec '06 and Sep '09?
December 2006 was the release of Vista. (Well, November 30th, but close enough) September 2009 was the release of Windows 7.
Normally you avoid data distortions like this by using a better kind of chart.
The problem is that they're trying to visualize two different things in one chart (relative and total values), and the compromise you make doing that in a stacked chart pretty much sacrifices everything except the sum of the values.
Also, area-shaded line graphs make absolutely no sense if you've only got a few data points.
Can you be Even More Awesome?!
Finance income and charges are added/deducted after operating profits. Investors usually want to look at how a company manages it's finances differently to how they want to analyse operations. Wiki has an example income statement.