In the midst of a global recession, businesses struggle to find the value in buying powerful new computers. It is a situation that continues to prove torturous for Dell and seems to have paralyzed parts of the company’s turnaround efforts.

Dell, based in Round Rock, Tex., depends on selling computers to businesses and government bodies more than any of the other major computer makers. About three-quarters of its products go to such customers, while consumers make up the remainder. As businesses appear to be recovering more slowly than consumers, Dell is looking quite far ahead to find signs of optimism in the PC industry.

“We are preparing for what we believe will be a powerful replacement cycle,” said Michael S. Dell, the company’s founder and chief executive, during a conference call on Thursday to discuss the company’s first-quarter results. Mr. Dell expects sales to pick up in 2010, when customers may buy new computers to run Microsoft’s next operating system, Windows 7.

For now, Dell continues to struggle. In its first quarter, ended May 1, net income fell 63 percent, to $290 million, or 15 cents a share, from $784 million, or 38 cents a share, in the same period last year. Excluding restructuring and real estate charges, Dell earned 24 cents a share, beating analysts’ estimates by a penny.