The company reported revenue of $16.01 billion for the quarter that ended Sept. 30, an 8 percent decline from last year. This figure fell short of what many analysts had expected the company to generate for the period. A poll from Thomson Reuters found that analysts, on the average, expected the company to earn around $16.42 billion in revenue for the quarter.

The company had generated $1.36 billion of revenue from customers who already purchased copies of Windows 8 and the next version of Microsoft Office, but Microsoft did not include this income because these products have not been released yet. With these sales factored in, Microsoft revenue would be approximately the same as it was for the same quarter in the previous year.

In the statement that accompanied the earnings announcement, Microsoft Chief Financial Officer Peter Klein attributed the slack in revenue to a slowdown in the demand for PCs due to the pending Windows 8 launch, while noting that other sectors of Microsoft continued to perform well.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer did not address the slump in sales in the statement, but characterized the quarter as the end of an era for Microsoft, with the company focusing on building new products, such as Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, that would address shifting market needs.

"The launch of Windows 8 is the beginning of a new era at Microsoft," Ballmer stated. "Investments we've made over a number of years are now coming together to create a future of exceptional devices and services, with tremendous opportunity for our customers, developers, and partners."