HP: Voodoo lives on, but 'not immune' to layoffs

Amid reports of layoffs at Hewlett-Packard's Voodoo PC subsidiary, the company has decided to be slightly more clear about what exactly is going on--emphasis on "slightly."

Phil McKinney, an HP vice president and CTO of the Personal Systems Group, under which the Voodoo brand falls, weighed in on the official Voodoo blog Wednesday. The Voodoo brand is currently being integrated with the company's larger consumer PC line, which means that things at the little niche PC outfit from Calgary, Alberta, are also changing.

"Voodoo's limited size and focus on North America had limited its scale. We can now extend Voodoo's reach and influence globally through HP's extensive go-to-market resources," he writes.

"Are there layoffs? At times, there are downsizing moves in HP's business units just as there are hiring moves. We're always adjusting the work force to meet business needs and market dynamics. Is Voodoo immune from this practice? No, it is not."

Last week, HP announced that it would cut nearly 25,000 jobs over the next three years--and simultaneously replace half of those positions--as it sorts out its acquisition of IT services giant EDS.

McKinney also notes that the Voodoo Envy 133 just started shipping, and the Omen desktop is soon to follow. That was part of the reason, as we noted on Monday, that the idea of Voodoo being "shut down" seemed bizarre.

Though McKinney doesn't shed any light on the mysterious new product Voodoo is developing, which Voodoo co-founder Rahul Sood teased last month, he does explain why Sood won't be blogging for a while (see picture above).