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Hardware Rumor Claims HP Will Shut Down Voodoo
Shane McGlaun (Blog) - September 23, 2008 11:42 AM

23 comment(s) - last by Samus.. on Sep 25 at 5:45 AM

Rumor mill has HP closing Voodoo down, more likely its just further integrating Voodoo into its operations

A rumor is making the rounds today that HP could possibly be closing down boutique gaming PC maker Voodoo. It is easy to imagine with the weak economy hitting the PC and technology industry particularly hard, that a maker of uber-expensive PCs would be feeling increased pressure.

The rumor first came from Techgage who reports that it was told by an "insider close to the situation" that an email was being circulated among Voodoo employees that HP is shutting Voodoo down. Crave quotes HP spokeswoman Marlene Somsak saying, "We continually assess and rebalance the size of our work force relative to the business environment and market conditions." Somsak told Crave that it would be incorrect to say HP was shutting Voodoo down.

It would be easy to imagine that HP is merely continuing on the next step that it started when it absorbed Voodoo totally into HP in July 2008. HP said when it fully absorbed Voodoo into its operations, "It is just the next step of integration into the business units that deliver Compaq Presario and [HP] Pavilion."

One major possibility here is that HP is closing down the remaining Voodoo assembly lines in Canada. The Voodoo notebooks have always been made in Asia, but the gaming desktops were assembled in Canada. Closing the Canadian assembly processes down would allow HP to further integrate Voodoo into HP's normal operations. Closing the Voodoo facilities would also allow HP some cost savings by cutting more Voodoo employees. Both the Voodoo Omen desktop and the HP Blackbird are currently built in Canada.

Neither HP nor Voodoo has made any official comments on the rumor at this time.

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HPs ways are mysterious

By GaryJohnson on 9/23/2008 12:07:08 PM , Rating: 4

There is no pattern, there is no logic, and trying to find some will drive you insane. I've seen it happen.

RE: HPs ways are mysterious

By Chadder007 on 9/23/2008 12:40:42 PM , Rating: 3

Its the same with most of the corporate world....

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RE: HPs ways are mysterious

By Radnor on 9/23/2008 12:42:15 PM , Rating: 2

HP has to save a buck !!! 28000 yesterday, Voodoo today.
Like Acer and other brands...
No fabs, no assembly lines, no Customer support, no HR, almost no research, no self made OS.......

They just print the sticker. I hate apple for its completely proprietary solution, but sounds much better than this bandwagon most brands are jumping in. There isn't exceptions here nowadays.

Fire people and terminate business, to save on more buck. One things that those companies fail to see, is that, the companies they outsource work to, have profits. That just means that they just now how to print bumper stickers and marketing.

Pfff, i hate big corporations.

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RE: HPs ways are mysterious

By strmbkr on 9/23/2008 5:19:02 PM , Rating: 3

Yes indeed, they are always trying to cut corners.

http://img82.imageshack.us/my.php?image=demotivati...

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RE: HPs ways are mysterious

By Oregonian2 on 9/23/2008 12:45:36 PM , Rating: 2

Well, I think there is logic and a pattern that most here I think knew from day one but was hoping not to be the case. When they were bought out, they were destined to become just another brand name at HP, something they have the marketing rights to. Slowly by slowly, step by step...

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RE: HPs ways are mysterious

By FaceMaster on 9/23/2008 12:56:16 PM , Rating: 5

quote:
There is no pattern, there is no logic, and trying to find some will drive you insane. I've seen it happen.

I never knew that HP and girls were so similar...

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RE: HPs ways are mysterious

By S3anister on 9/23/2008 3:35:35 PM , Rating: 2

I'm going to blame it on Cathie Lesjak, the CFO of HP.

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RE: HPs ways are mysterious

By Locutus465 on 9/23/2008 1:45:28 PM , Rating: 2

This is a bizzar move if true, Voodoo was a great way for HP to introduce a life style brand akin to Mac (which is what they've been doing)... Apparently HP thinks there's no money to be made in a life style brand of computers?

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RE: HPs ways are mysterious

By Master Kenobi

(blog) on 9/23/2008 2:19:44 PM , Rating: 2

Well if you look at the margins and profitability of the Mac PC line, you would see why. Apple doesn't make a whole lot of money from selling PC's.

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Its a shame

By Bateluer on 9/23/2008 12:32:00 PM , Rating: 2

Its a shame to see the decline of Voodoo, almost brings a deju vu feeling. Its the second respected product/company to use the name Voodoo that's declined.

RE: Its a shame

By Joz on 9/23/08, Rating: -1

RE: Its a shame

By Chaser on 9/23/2008 2:35:57 PM , Rating: 1

And your rant was rated down for being stupid.

Get back to us when one of your "homebuilt systems" gets a review from a respectable source.

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RE: Its a shame

By EntreHoras on 9/23/2008 3:49:46 PM , Rating: 2

By the way, once you post, all the rates (up or down) are erased. So, at the end, your rate down was up again by your post.

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RE: Its a shame

By oab on 9/23/2008 10:13:48 PM , Rating: 2

Pre-HP buyout you clearly did not know just how awesome Voodoo computers were. Though in the two years or so leading up to HPs buyout, they were less significant as they had been.

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RE: Its a shame

By just4U on 9/24/2008 5:04:55 AM , Rating: 2

Living here in Calgary not far from what was once the voodoo shop I have to say they had the literal drool factor... GOD DAMN I wanted one of those or hell half the parts they had that I couldnt get else where.. and shoot I build computers. Yeah I have to agree they were right at the top tier in almost every way.

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RE: Its a shame

By Samus on 9/25/2008 5:45:14 AM , Rating: 2

I'm sorry, but the Blackbird was an awesome system and thanks to the HP/Voodoo merger, it exists.

If this is true, we won't see more systems like it.

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Why?

By chartguy on 9/23/2008 12:48:31 PM , Rating: 2

What exactly did HP think they were going to do when they bought Voodoo? It's a bit like WalMart buying Gucci. Who thought this was a good idea?

RE: Why?

By Totally on 9/23/2008 1:08:21 PM , Rating: 2

It was a "me too" acquisition, after Dell bought alienware.

It happens all the time, the last one was in the graphics arena with 3 participants and 2 slices and two on the table

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History repeats itself

By Landiepete on 9/24/2008 4:39:35 AM , Rating: 2

Big bulk brands are always on the lookout for smaller companies that have a percieved 'cult' status. They hope that by acquiting such a brand some of the exclusivity will rub off on their run of the mill stuff creating added value.

HP bought Voodoo, Ford bought Jaguar and Aston Martin, the list is long.

After a while it turns out it just doesn'r work that way. Even worse, consumers previously buying the luxury brand shy away because of it's association with the mainstream brand.

Sometimes they try to sell of the brand again (Tata bought Jag), but often the luxury brand gets absorbed into the mainstream and disappears as a seperate identity.

It's the way of things, but apparently the marketing curriculae in the schools haven't been updated for the last hundred yeas.

Even if they try to keep the brands alive, the innovation usually dies.

Small, technology driven outfits thrive on the quest for uniqueness, doing something no one has done, creating technological magnificence and basically 'OOH' factors. They are often driven by individuals that are creative and out-of-the-box. Once they're absorbed into a big outfit, the corporate way of life hits them like a ton of bricks and the creative spirit is squashed.

It continues to baffle me how big companies like HP keep falling for this.

Peter R.

RE: History repeats itself

By aos007 on 9/24/2008 1:55:02 PM , Rating: 2

Perhaps they are only interested in short term profits, as the transition of a bought brand into irrelevance does not happen overnight. While it lasts they can milk it and after that they don't really care - the profit was boosted, shares were up, shareholders were happy, bonuses were paid. And then it's the time to look for another prey.

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Assimulation....

By GrJohnso on 9/23/2008 2:02:51 PM , Rating: 2

Most likely yes, Voodoo as a completely stand-alone entity is history. That's the way it goes just about any time a big company buys a smaller one. Doesn't mean the Voodoo products will dissapear, it'll just be another product line under HP built in the same places the rest of their hardware is built to keep costs under control. It's a pretty common sense move. Why keep the overhead of extra offices, extra assembly lines, extra parts warehouses, etc?

And for the clueless poster mentioning big companies and hardly any R&D, well, you don't know much about the big folks like IBM, HP, etc... Do a patent look up and you might be a little surprised about what these lazy big corps are doing to innovate for you...

Check out an HP Touchsmart PC... Not a bad "in house" product from one of these boring big companies...

Anyway, back on topic... Bummer if Voodoo falls off the face entirely... Hope they still keep some identify within HP.

why surprising?

By tacoburrito on 9/23/2008 2:25:30 PM , Rating: 2

Why would this piece of news surprise anyone? When HP bought Voodoo, wasn't it just a matter of time before both companies start sharing the same production lines to minimize costs? Otherwise what would be the point of buying a company other than to raid their propietary know-how?

About time

By aos007 on 9/23/2008 9:51:14 PM , Rating: 2

Really. Hopefully this means no more reviews of stuff like this on Anandtech in the future. This bothers me just about as much as a closure of some exclusive sailing club in California. Who in their right mind buys this? Perhaps a competitive professional player that can use it to enhance his image and write it off at tax time?