Economic Comparisons

Some of the most significant indicators of Microsoft's monopoly position are its profit margins. No other company in the industry can come close to the margins that Microsoft finds commonplace as a result of its arguable monopolies of the consumer operating system and office suite markets. Generally speaking, the greater the profit margin, the lower the return on investment (ROI) each consumer reaps when purchasing a product. Healthy competition results in lowered margins and increased consumer ROI. So, while exorbitant profit margins are not definitive proof of the existence of a monopoly, they can easily be used as an indicator of a company's market power and the diminished returns experienced by the consumer public. Recent economic figures for several companies are provided below for your consideration.

Updated November 2, 2001

Microsoft ( http://www.microsoft.com/msft/earn.htm )

Time Period	Revenue	Net Income	Profit Margin
1Q 2002 (09/30/01)	$6.13 billion	$2.90 billion	47.3%
FY 2001 (06/30/01)	$25.30 billion	$11.72 billion	46.3%
4Q 2001 (06/30/01)	$6.58 billion	$2.75 billion	41.8%
3Q 2001 (03/31/01)	$6.46 billion	$2.45 billion	37.9%
2Q 2001 (12/31/00)	$6.59 billion	$2.62 billion	39.8%
1Q 2001 (09/30/00)	$5.80 billion	$2.58 billion	44.5%
FY 2000	$22.96 billion	$9.42 billion	41.0%
4Q 2000	$5.80 billion	$2.41 billion	41.6%
3Q 2000	$5.66 billion	$2.39 billion	42.2%
2Q 2000	$6.11 billion	$2.44 billion	40.0%
1Q 2000	$5.38 billion	$2.19 billion	40.7%
FY 1999	$19.75 billion	$7.79 billion	39.4%
4Q 1999	$5.76 billion	$2.2 billion	38.2%
3Q 1999	$4.33 billion	$1.92 billion	44.3%

Intel ( http://www.intel.com/intel/finance/earnings.htm )

Time Period	Revenue	Net Income	Profit Margin
3Q 2000	$8.7 billion	$2.9 billion	33.3%
2Q 2000	$8.3 billion	$3.5 billion	42.2%
1Q 2000	$8.0 billion	$3.1 billion	38.8%
FY 1999	$29.4 billion	$8.1 billion	27.6%
4Q 1999	$8.2 billion	$2.4 billion	29.3%
3Q 1999	$7.3 billion	$1.9 billion	26.0%
2Q 1999	$6.7 billion	$1.7 billion	25.3%

Cisco ( http://investor.cisco.com/media_files/nsd/csco/news.html )

Time Period	Revenue	Net Income	Profit Margin
1Q 2001	$6.52 billion	$1.36 billion	20.9%
4Q 2000	$5.72 billion	$1.20 billion	21.0%
3Q 2000	$4.92 billion	$1.03 billion	20.9%
2Q 2000	$4.35 billion	$906 million	20.8%
1Q 2000	$3.88 billion	$837 million	21.6%
FY 1999	$12.15 billion	$2.55 billion	20.1%
4Q 1999	$3.55 billion	$727 million	20.5%

Oracle ( http://www.prnewswire.com/micro/ORCL )

Time Period	Revenue	Net Income	Profit Margin
2Q 2001	$2.7 billion	$623 million	23.1%
1Q 2001	$2.3 billion	$501 million	21.8%
4Q 2000	$3.4 billion	$926 million	27.2%
3Q 2000	$2.4 billion	$498 million	20.8%
2Q 2000	$2.3 billion	$384 million	17.0%
1Q 2000	$2.0 billion	$237 million	11.9%
FY 1999	$8.8 billion	$1.3 billion	14.8%
4Q 1999	$2.9 billion	$527 million	18.2%

Sun Microsystems
( http://www.sun.com/aboutsun/investor/financial.html )

Time Period	Revenue	Net Income	Profit Margin
1Q 2001	$5.05 billion	$510 million	10.1%
4Q 2000	$5.02 billion	$660 million	13.1%
3Q 2000	$4.00 billion	$436 million	11.0%
2Q 2000	$3.55 billion	$353 million	10.0%
1Q 2000	$3.12 billion	$275 million	8.8%
FY 1999	$11.73 billion	$1.16 billion	9.9%
4Q 1999	$3.515 billion	$395 million	11.2%

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