HP NOT launching new PC brand this year
We were at an HP gaming event today, presented by Rahul Sood (former CEO of Voodoo, before HP bought 'em). Rahul wanted to let the world know what HP had all their peoples working on, since not much has changed around Voodoo's business since the acquisition. The answer? HP's launching a new high-to-mid tier PC brand in 2007, which will sit beneath the Voodoo brand and above HP brand in terms of price / performance. They didn't go into much more detail than that, but it's obvious HP thinks the PC gaming space will continue to be a money-maker. Let's just hope they don't resurrect, say, Packard Bell in that slot, or some other flagging PC business. We think it's about time for some fresh blood up in here, don't you?
Update: It took a hella long time to trickle down to us, but HP isn't, in fact, launching a new PC brand this year. According to Sood, "We don't plan to, nor have we considered, bringing on a fourth [brand]." That's certainly not the impression we got from his presentation; what the mystery yellow block in the diagram above (which we mocked up to recreate the slide he showed) actually happens to be is still anyone's guess.
