Other large tech companies, including IBM, Cisco Systems, Microsoft and Intel, have all reported declining revenue for the last quarter, as businesses kept a tight rein on spending and conserved cash.

Like HP, however, several companies have said demand may be picking up, and there have been positive signs even for the beleaguered PC market. Intel said last month that conditions in the PC market were improving and predicted a stronger second half, while Dell said that demand was stabilizing.

Cisco, SAP and IBM, which all depend heavily on large enterprises for their business, have given encouraging outlooks for the rest of the year, although as Cisco CEO John Chambers said two weeks ago, it will take several more quarters to tell if a recovery is underway.