HP agrees to buy Voodoo

SAN FRANCISCO: Hewlett-Packard Co. said on Thursday it agreed to buy privately held Voodoo Computers Inc. at undisclosed terms to boost its presence in the market for high-end personal computers used by video game players.

HP said that Voodoo, whose computers can cost thousands of dollars, would be part of a new gaming business unit that HP is creating to help tap the multibillion-dollar market.

HP's planned acquisition of Voodoo, expected to close by Oct. 31, is the second purchase of a specialty gaming PC maker by a major PC company and follows Dell Inc.'s acquisition of privately held Alienware Corp. in May 2006.

As consumers are using more and more rich digital content, such as movies, songs and photographs, "High performance computing has become more important," said Phil McKinney, chief technology officer for HP's personal computer business. "HP has been looking at the gaming space for some while."

Voodoo, founded in 1991, is based in Calgary, Alberta, and has about 30 employees.