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HP likes Voodoo's 'perfectionist' approach

Tom Krazit Former Staff writer, CNET News
Tom Krazit writes about the ever-expanding world of Google, as the most prominent company on the Internet defends its search juggernaut while expanding into nearly anything it thinks possible. He has previously written about Apple, the traditional PC industry, and chip companies. E-mail Tom.
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Tom Krazit

FOSTER CITY, CALIF.--The world's largest PC makers have courted gamers for years, but have finally decided that the most profitable segment of the PC market requires a specific approach, according to HP's head of PC marketing.

"Most PC makers come from a mass-market PC production environment. Voodoo comes from a perfectionist environment," said Satjiv Chahil, senior vice president of marketing for HP's Personal Systems Group. HP completed its acquisition of Voodoo last month. And while it plans to keep the Voodoo brand for those high-end gaming PCs, it hopes that some of Voodoo's approach to PC design will rub off on its mass-market products.

Dell is doing something a little different. It has developed its own XPS brand for high-end gaming and entertainment PCs, but also purchased gaming PC company Alienware several months before HP acquired Voodoo.

Chahil also touched on HP's recent success in the PC market. This year, the company has regained the leading market share position from Dell, and enjoyed a Black Friday blitz on the back of aggressive pricing.

Pricing is extremely important to first-time buyers and students, who make up a lot of the current market for notebook PCs, he said. But as people buy their second or third notebooks, they become much more discriminating about the style and performance they require, and HP needs to cater to both types of users, he said.