"First-quarter PC shipments came in better than expected, which led to an improved outlook for microprocessors, but we believe most of this improvement was due to the fact that inventories had been run down too far, rather than true demand returning," said Bryan Lewis, research vice president at Gartner, in the report.

In its quarterly report Thursday, Dell stayed optimistic about the end of the recession.

"We're preparing for what we believe will be a powerful replacement cycle, with virtualization and managed services playing larger roles in what customers want and Dell provides," CEO Michael Dell said in a release.

Dell earnings per share, excluding one-time items, came to $0.24, or $0.01 better than the forecast of analysts polled by Thomson Reuters. But sales for the quarter ended May 1 were $12.3 billion, down 23 percent from the $16.1 billion level a year ago. That sales figure, along with the reports of a continuing downturn in chip and server revenue, suggests the computer industry has a way to go before it is out of the recessionary woods.