"Microsoft Earnings Disappoint Investors"

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

NPR's business news starts with Microsoft's earnings.

Yesterday we told you about Apple earnings. Despite heavy sales of iPhones and iPads, its profits were flat last quarter. That's still better than Microsoft, which reported a four percent earnings decline. Those disappointing figures are blamed on sagging sales of personal computers, which have created a shrinking market for Microsoft's newest PC operating system, Windows 8.