In a diversification from its mainstream business, HP is to form a separate business unit within its Personal Systems group focused on the gaming industry. VoodooPC co-owner Rahul Sood will become chief technologist, and co-owner Ravi Sood will become its director of strategy.
Phil McKinney, CTO of HP’s Personal Systems Group, will become general manager of the gaming business unit, which will have access to the technologies developed by the company’s R&D operation. Calgary, Canada-based VoodooPC was formed in 1991 and its latest Omen machine boasts a water-cooled Intel Core 2 Duo processor.
This acquisition, once closed, will extend HP’s presence into the high-performance gaming market and globally expand the reach of the VoodooPC brand.
Todd Bradley, EVP of HP’s Personal Systems Group, said the company was already a market leader in two of the three major segments in the gaming market by providing workstations for game development and powering online game services. Now with Voodoo, he said HP will have the expertise to become the leader in the gaming customer segment.
