The fact that a 7.1 percent decline in quarterly PC shipments qualifies as good news says a lot about the current state of the economy, but research firm IDC was expecting things to be worse, so the better-than-expected result could be a sign that things are starting to get better. IDC had expected worldwide PC shipments to decline by more than 8 percent for the quarter.

Also today, Intel CEO Paul Otellini said today that he believes "the worst is now behind us from an inventory correction and demand level adjustment perspective."

Dow Jones Newswires says Otellini's comments "reaffirm recent sentiment that steep drops in demand seen in the fourth quarter are over," However, it adds, "It doesn't mean tech revenue growth is around the corner, even if stocks had been trading that way."

The Associated Press quotes IDC's Lorne Loverde offering additional context: "I don't think Intel's comment was meant to say we're going to come roaring back next quarter. It's likely we won't see growth deteriorate from here."

The trend could be good news for Microsoft, or not. The Redmond company, which reports quarterly earnings next week, relies heavily on sales of Windows preinstalled on PCs. But one big question will be how much of the result came from netbooks. Microsoft makes less on every copy of Windows sold on those small, mobile notebook computers than it does on traditional computers.