Microsoft Corp (NASDAQ: MSFT) is a technology company that develops and sells software, cloud services, devices, and gaming products to businesses, governments, and consumers worldwide. It makes money through a mix of subscription fees, consumption-based cloud billing, transactional software licenses, advertising, and device sales. The three reportable segments are Productivity and Business Processes, Intelligent Cloud, and More Personal Computing. Productivity and Business Processes includes Microsoft 365 Commercial and Consumer subscriptions, LinkedIn's Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions, Premium Subscriptions, and Sales Solutions, and Dynamics 365 business applications. Intelligent Cloud is anchored by Azure, a consumption-based platform offering cloud and AI services, alongside SQL Server, Windows Server, Visual Studio, and GitHub. More Personal Computing covers Windows OEM licensing, Xbox gaming hardware and content, Surface devices, and search advertising through Bing. Microsoft was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in the Seattle, Washington area. Satya Nadella serves as CEO.

Revenue model

Revenue is generated through subscription fees (Microsoft 365 Commercial and Consumer, LinkedIn Premium, Dynamics 365), consumption-based billing (Azure cloud and AI services), transactional software licenses (Windows OEM, on-premises Office, SQL Server, Windows Server), device sales (Surface PCs, Xbox consoles and accessories), online advertising (LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, Bing search advertising), and gaming content and services (Xbox). The mix shifts toward cloud subscriptions and consumption as customers move from on-premises licensing to cloud deployments.

Products and services

Microsoft 365 Commercial cloud (including Exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, Enterprise Mobility + Security, Power BI, Microsoft 365 Copilot, Microsoft 365 Security and Compliance); Microsoft 365 Consumer subscriptions and on-premises Office; Dynamics 365 business applications; LinkedIn (Talent Solutions, Marketing Solutions, Premium Subscriptions, Sales Solutions); Azure cloud and AI consumption-based services; GitHub cloud services; Nuance Healthcare cloud services; SQL Server; Windows Server; Visual Studio; System Center; Xbox hardware, content, and gaming services; Surface devices; Bing search advertising; Windows OEM licensing.

Customers and end markets

Enterprise and commercial organizations (primary buyers of Microsoft 365 Commercial, Azure, Dynamics 365, and LinkedIn Talent and Sales Solutions); small and medium businesses; individual consumers (Microsoft 365 Consumer, Xbox, Surface); developers and IT professionals (Azure, GitHub, Visual Studio); healthcare organizations (Nuance); advertisers (LinkedIn Marketing Solutions, Bing). No single customer concentration is disclosed in the filing excerpts.

Value-chain role

Microsoft operates as an integrated platform provider across software development, cloud infrastructure, and device manufacturing. It designs and operates datacenters globally across the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East. It also runs regional operations service centers for customer contract processing, billing, collections, and vendor management. Cloud scale advantages include lower per-unit datacenter costs and demand aggregation across customers and geographies, as stated in the filing.

Geographic exposure

Microsoft has regional operations in the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East, with corporate headquarters and a significant portion of research and development in the Seattle, Washington area, and additional operations in the Silicon Valley area of California. Specific revenue breakdowns by geography are referenced in Note 18 of the FY2025 10-K but are not excerpted here.

Source: SEC 10-K, filed 2025-07-30

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