Speaking to Reuters, Ballmer explained that “revenues in our industry, and in our company, will be affected by the economic conditions.” Ballmer was, however, speaking about his company in general terms, and the extent in which the Xbox Division will be affected remains unknown.
Ballmer was speaking at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona, where Microsoft's focus has so far been on new applications and services for Windows Mobile.
Back in January Microsoft announced that it would be cutting 5,000 jobs over 18 months, with cuts being made across an array of departments including R&D, marketing, sales, finance, legal, HR and IT.
It is thought that the cost-saving measures will reduce Microsoft's annual operating expense run rate by about $1.5 billion, and reduce fiscal year 2009 capital expenditures by $700 million.