Microsoft Says PC Sales May Have Missed Fourth-Quarter Estimates

January 10, 2012, 10:14 PM EST By Dina Bass

Jan. 10 (Bloomberg) -- Microsoft Corp. executives said industrywide sales of personal computers will probably be lower than analysts projected for the quarter that ended in December as supply was hurt by flooding in Thailand.

Wall Street and industry analysts had estimated that total PC shipments fell about 1 percent in the fourth quarter, said Tami Reller, chief financial officer of the company’s Windows unit, and Bill Koefoed, general manager of investor relations. The actual number is probably lower, Reller and Koefoed said in separate speeches at two investor conferences in Las Vegas.

“As the numbers come out, you’ll likely see that number decline further as the impact has been felt faster than people had anticipated,” Koefoed said in a speech at a JP Morgan Chase & Co. conference. Reller told a Nomura Holdings Inc. audience that there could “potentially” be more downward adjustments.

Microsoft shares slipped in extended trading after the comments were reported.

--Editors: Jillian Ward, Tom Giles

To contact the reporter on this story: Dina Bass in Seattle at dbass2@bloomberg.net;

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Tom Giles at tgiles5@bloomberg.net

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