THE BUZZ: Microsoft has announced record financial results for the quarter ending December 31, with a company revenue of $20.89 billion and a net income of $6.62 billion.

Revenue for the company’s Entertainment & Devices Division, which holds Xbox 360 and Windows 7 phone products, was up 15% year-on-year to $4.24 billion. 8.2 million Xbox 360s were shipped during the three month window, up from 6.3 million the year before.

EGM’s TAKE: This has been an amazing quarter for Microsoft considering how fragile the economy still is. It’s hard to pinpoint an exact reason for the major increase, however the amount of quality games hitting quarter four last year probably helped considerably. Especially when one of these titles was the incredibly popular Xbox 360 exclusive Gears of War 3. Also this year has seen a rise in Windows 7 phone sales, due to the increasing popularity of the Indie scene and downloadable titles, which is a new revenue stream for the firm. A bumper release schedule coupled with an affordable console price point has secured Microsoft a fantastic Christmas period, but how will it fare in 2012?