The Imaging and Printing Group also declined, with revenue down 19 percent to $6.0 billion. Within that group, printer unit shipments decreased 33 percent as people put off buying new printers, Hurd said. Sales of printer supplies were down too. "When you don't have a job, you aren't printing as much," he said.

HP Software revenue was down 7 percent to $878 million and HP Financial Services revenue decreased 1 percent to $636 million.

The company has further ideas for cutting costs as the economy continues to struggle. It has significantly reduced travel expenses and is reducing employee base pay and benefits, Lesjak said.

The results were lower than HP said it expected when it reported its previous quarter earnings in November. At that time, it said revenue for the quarter ending in January should reach between $32 billion and $32.5 billion, with earnings per share in the range of $0.80 to $0.82.