The company remained profitable, however, posting results that were in line with analyst expectations. HP recorded a profit of US$1.7 billion on sales of $27.4 billion. Earnings per share were $0.70 for its second fiscal quarter, ended April 30.

In a hopeful sign, the company reaffirmed its earlier guidance for fiscal 2009, saying it expected to earn between $3.76 and $3.88 per share for the year. That's better than analysts had been expecting. In a Thomson Financial survey of 26 financial analysts, the consensus estimate was $3.71 for the year. However, the company was pessimistic on revenue for the year, saying it would be down by 4 percent to 5 percent. Last quarter, HP had said it expected revenue to be down between 2 percent and 5 percent.

HP Chairman and CEO Mark Hurd said it was unlikely that corporate IT purchasing patterns would change in fiscal 2009. "We have customers that tell me, 'We're just delaying as long as we can until we have to buy,'" he said during a conference call with financial analysts Tuesday. "CIOs have been given marching orders that say, 'Take that infrastructure, keep the infrastructure running... be very particular about new projects you start, and if you can avoid starting that project, avoid starting it.'"

The quarter's revenue drop would have been much worse had HP not seen its services sales nearly double, year-over-year, thanks to the company's Aug. 26 acquisition of Electronic Data Services (EDS). Services revenue was up 99 percent, totaling $8.5 billion for the quarter.