Tag Archives: msft

SPY, GLL: Big ETF Outflows

Looking at units outstanding versus one week prior within the universe of ETFs covered at ETF Channel, the biggest outflow was seen in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF ( SPY ), where 19,550,000 units were destroyed, or a 2.2%

Microsoft Azure Cloud Service Seen Turning Profitable This Year

Microsoft ’s ( MSFT ) Azure cloud computing service is a money-loser for the software giant, but that should change this year, investment bank Goldman Sachs said in a report Sunday. Azure is the second largest cloud platform and infrastructure service, but it trails Amazon.com ( AMZN )-owned Amazon Web Services by a mile. In 2015, Microsoft’s Azure generated $1.81 billion in sales, up 112% from the prior year. But its gross profit margin was -6%. That’s an improvement from the -17.1% gross margin in 2014, Goldman said. By comparison, AWS raked in $7.88 billion in sales last year, up 70% from 2014. Its operating profit margin was 23.7% in 2015, up from 14.2% in 2014. Goldman predicts that Microsoft’s Azure sales growth will continue to outpace AWS this year and turn profitable as well. It forecasts Azure generating $3.46 billion in sales, with a gross margin of 9.2%, in 2016. For 2017, it sees Azure racking up $6.18 billion in sales, with a gross margin of 20.9%. But Amazon is likely to maintain its solid revenue lead. Goldman estimates that AWS sales will jump to $12.50 billion this year and $19.13 billion in 2017. It sees the operating margin for AWS increasing to 29.3% in 2016 and 29.5% in 2017. Goldman predicts that AWS and Azure will take market share from smaller rivals this year and next as smaller rivals struggle, with some exiting the market. AWS boasted 39% market share in the public cloud segment last year, vs. 9% for Azure. AWS is forecast to reap 46% market share this year and 54% in 2017. Meanwhile, Azure is seen growing to 13% market share this year and 17% in 2017. RELATED: Google Seen Slashing Cloud Pricing Vs. Amazon, Microsoft . Image provided by Shutterstock .

Microsoft To Ship HoloLens Computer Glasses To Developers March 30

Microsoft ( MSFT ) announced Monday that it will begin shipping its HoloLens computer glasses to developers in the U.S. and Canada on March 30. It started taking pre-orders for the augmented reality goggles on Monday. The Development Edition of HoloLens costs $3,000 and is targeted to software developers and enterprises. Microsoft is taking a gradual approach to commercializing HoloLens. It wants to expand the software ecosystem and drive hardware costs lower before it expands availability for the product. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella told the BBC last July that it could be a “five-year journey” to roll out the devices to consumers. The HoloLens developer kit comes with a handful of initial apps, including a Skype app, a 3D modeling app called HoloStudio, and HoloTour, an app that provides 3D virtual trips to global landmarks. It also has included three mixed reality games in the kits. “Today represents a monumental step forward,” Alex Kipman, a technical fellow in Microsoft’s operating system group, said in a blog post . “This is the first step in our journey to consumers. A step focused on our commercial partnerships and on supporting developers, who will help pave the way to consumer availability with amazing and new holographic experiences.” HoloLens glasses overlay digital images in a user’s field of vision, creating new ways to interact with data. Users can control what they see with verbal commands and gestures. Some experts predict that holographic computing will be the next step in personal computers. HoloLens is a fully untethered, self-contained, Windows 10 device. It does not have to link to a separate PC or mobile phone to work. The headset features a custom-built Holographic Processing Unit and an Intel ( INTC ) 32-bit architecture. It sports 2 gigabytes of RAM, 64GB of flash storage, and Bluetooth and Wi-Fi connectivity. HoloLens contains a host of sensors, include an inertial measurement unit, an ambient light sensor, four microphones and four environment understanding cameras. It also has a 2-megapixel camera for taking photos and videos. HoloLens has see-through holographic lenses that use an advanced optical projection system to generate multidimensional, full-color holograms with low latency. The developer kit includes a new Clicker accessory for controlling HoloLens without gestures or voice commands. Battery life for active use is two to three hours. Alphabet ( GOOGL ) is developing its own augmented reality glasses in Google Glass.