Despite plans to split, HP earnings show it's still grappling with sluggish PC business

Venerable tech giant Hewlett-Packard has been struggling for three years to turn its business around. Its latest earnings show it still has more work ahead.

While CEO Meg Whitman has decided to split the company in two, she has said it will take a year to disengage the sluggish printer-and-PC division from faster-growing units that sell commercial tech hardware, software and services. Meanwhile, HP reported Tuesday that its sales fell 2 percent in the most recent three-month period, marking its 12th revenue decline in the last 13 quarters.

And there was little comfort in a new forecast issued Tuesday by market research firm IDC. It predicts the global PC market will shrink 2.7 percent this year, instead of the 3.7 percent drop forecast earlier.