14 DAY TRIAL // HP is planning to restructure its VoodooPC division – a brand that has recently made it into all the headlines with the release of the new Omen and Envy computer systems. It is yet unclear what the company’s plans are exactly but, according to the ongoing rumors on the Internet, VoodooPC could soon become just another product lineup from HP.
Speculation regarding HP's VoodooPC was ignited by a recent article posted on the TechAge website, which suggested, citing an insider familiar with the situation, that VoodooPC might not be around for that much longer. Rumors have it that an e-mail is now making the rounds among company employees, notifying them of layoffs. At this point, no one knows for certain the exact number of employees whose contract is expected to be terminated, but, considering the many employees VoodooPC has, anyone can easily predict that the change will certainly impact the company quite seriously.
Another tidbit of information that goes to confirm the end of VoodooPC is that the company is said to have returned products to its suppliers. Topower, supplier of PSUs for VoodooPC, has allegedly received over 300 items of its supplies back. Then again, this could also be explained by the fact that VoodooPC is believed to sell less than 100 units of its state-of-the-art Omen desktop computer systems monthly.
Unfortunately, HP hasn't revealed the details of a possible change to be operated with the VoodooPC brand. With all that, the guys at Gizmodo, who have also followed up on the story, have managed to get a response from Rahul Sood, Voodoo PC founder and current Chief Technology Officer of HP's Voodoo Business Unit. “HP is working on a plan to better leverage its existing resources to bring Voodoo products to market faster and make them more accessible to consumers. I can assure you that Voodoo employees and champions of the brand will continue to work on the conceptualization, design and development of Voodoo products.” Sood said.
In addition, Cnet's Crave was also able to get a comment from Marlene Somsak, an HP spokeswoman who didn't confirm the rumored shutdown of VoodooPC, but also refrained from offering any details on the supposed layoffs. “We continually assess and rebalance the size of our work force relative to the business environment and market conditions,” she said.
News reports of HP wanting to shut down VoodooPC can’t but be interpreted as a bit odd, especially since there have been certain rumors saying that VoodooPC could soon roll out a new product to go with the Omen desktop and the Envy portable system. Furthermore, we are just days away from the two-year anniversary of HP's acquisition of VoodooPC, which will be celebrated (or not, depending on whether these rumors are true or not) on September 28.
We will try to update on the story as soon as details emerge, so stay tuned here.