HP does Voodoo

Last week HP decided to buy Voodoo PC. Rahul wrote a long blog post on how it all happened and what the future could hold:

http://voodoopc.blogspot.com/2006/09/project-vampire-is-about-to-fly_28.html

While this makes sense if HP's motivation is purely to have a rebuttal or instrument to counter Dell should they get smart and begin to use the Alienware acquisition more strategically. The big question running through my head is the BIG numbers in the gaming segment are in markets like PRC and Korea. PRC will by far be the biggest market in a few years. But the Voodoo model - top of the line, super expensive niche products is not going to help them make traction in PRC. So what changes will they bring to the Voodoo brand and it's business model? Will they take it more downscale and mass market? Does that work - or does it just dilute Voodoo's equity for it's existing premium customer base?

My guess is they will do exactly that. Slot Voodoo as slightly high end brand targetted at gaming but make sure the average system price point becomes much more affordable compared to what Voodoo is today. The second thing they will do is use the brand to extend beyond PC gaming and begin to introduce other devices - not becessarily consoles but consumer electronic devices (i.e. TV's). For the die hard Voodoo fans today, this company and brand will not be the same 3 years from now.

My only other observation is Rahul seems to floating on cloud 9. His two entries on this are absolutely euphoristic. I just hope this isn't fleeting. Once they're part of the big "corporate" HP, many of their ideas and aspirations hopefully will not fall prey to corporate politics. I wish them all the best!