The Omen is featured in today’s Wired Gadget Lab in an article on monolithic gadget designs. The writer includes Omen in a list of five gadgets that he says “eschew external frills for elegance and timeless appeal. Technology Zen, if you will.”I don’t think we could be happier with a descriptor like this. Since the birth of the brand, we’ve been adamant about stunning, clean, timeless design, and based on the reviews we’ve seen over the last week, Omen and Envy are both being recognized as such.
One point: the article goes on to call the Omen a “high-end, overclockable gaming machine.” This isn’t the first article I’ve seen referring to the Omen in this way. True, the Omen can push limits in gaming, but I’d hate for it to be primarily labelled as a gaming machine.
Unlike our HP with Voodoo DNA line, which features PCs that have been designed primarily for gaming, the Omen and the Envy have been conceived to bring the Voodoo brand to those beyond the gaming community.
When we first launched this community site I referred to the duality of the Voodoo brand—the light and the dark sides of the mask in our logo, which represent the gaming side and the performance computing side. There will always be consistent elements in everything we produce—style, performance, detail, excellence—but not everything coming out of our labs has the same purpose.
3 blogger comments:
Your comment that you would "hate for it to be primarily labelled as a gaming machine" basically hits the nail on the head on why Voodoo has lost so many of it's earlier customers, and followers, who helped Voodoo get to where it is today.
I was sad watching Voodoo go from a top shelf builder of gaming systems that looked amazing to one basically selling overpriced "designer" systems.
Oh well, it appears that it is working out for Voodoo, for now at least.
If only non-CEO's could afford Voodoo brand.
With all due respect to "anonymous," in order for gaming PC builders to continue to grow, it has been necessary for them to build SKUs that go "downmarket." That's good if you want to sell in volume but you can't maintain a luxury brand by doing that. That's why you won't see a discount Lamborghini... they are a niche brand that caters to buyers looking for an elite product. "PC gaming" means too many things now to make it a marketing focus... the "gaming PC" concept is really just a holdover from the days when gaming required a significantly more powerful computer than was readily available. Nowadays, most PCs are capable of "gaming" in some shape or form so how do you truly differentiate?
My impression is that Voodoo is now the Lamborghini of HP (and the PC industry in general)... an elite brand that will influence the rest of HP's line. By partnering with HP, Voodoo has avoided many of the compromises that have been made by the other performance brands, such as Alienware and Falcon. Voodoo doesn't have to dilute its brand by making lower end systems. It can leverage HP's R&D to push the envelope of style and performance. In turn, HP uses Voodoo's "dna" to make PCs with better overall style and performance to strengthen brand loyalty and appeal to more of the market. In other words, innovations spearheaded by the Voodoo Business Unit will trickle down to the lower SKUs.
Will this strategy be successful? If you look at it strictly from a units sold stance for Voodoo, then the question is open. However, it's likely that by its just winning industry awards and establishing itself as a vanguard brand, Voodoo can claim success simply from an overall improvement of HP's PC business. If HP sells more computers and/or retains a greater portion of its market, it is likely that Voodoo will have played a role through its innovation and influence.
Dell has attempted something similar with its XPS line with some level of success. The problem is that Dell has too long been know as a commodity brand with sketchy quality and customer service. Plus it competes with its own Alienware "gaming" brand (I don't know WHAT'S going on with that).
The real bottom line is that Voodoo seems to be building better computers that are just as if not more capable than it ever has. They may look nicer but they still have the horsepower to play Crysis. I think the goal was to be more than just "top shelf" but to be the elite of the elite. I'm guessing that when benchmarks of the Omen hit the web, it will achieve its goal.
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