Hewlett-Packard has struggled through the decline of the PC, as it now operates as two entities; HP Inc, which makes  PCs and printers, and a separate company called Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) which creates corporate hardware and business software.

This is the last quarter in which the two companies will file one set of financial results.

HP has adjusted its profit for the quarter, coming in below market expectations as PC and printer sales remain weak.

Its chief executive Dion Weisler warned investors that this situation is unlikely to change in the short term.

"Looking ahead, we expect the PC market to remain challenged for more quarters to come," he said during a conference call.

Revenue in this part of the business fell by some 14% during the company's fourth quarter to the end of October.

This pushed the overall group's revenues down for the fifth quarter in a row, reducing by 9.5% to $25.71bn - while net income was down from $1.32bn to $1.33bn.