Chicago (IL) - HP's recent purchase of boutique PC builder VoodooPC has taken many by surprise. HP's PC division and Voodoo couldn't be more different and couldn't be less complementary. TG Daily talked to Voodoo's founders, HP and other custom PC builders to find out more - and found that HP has bought itself a Formula 1 team, that could lead the way to an immense payoff.

There are very few news in the IT industry that are truly surprising. Most of them are explainable in one way or the other almost immediately with some knowledge of respective market segments and the help of hints in press releases. That, however, was not the case with last week's announcement of HP's acquisition of VoodooPC. It wasn't just surprising, it was shocking: What in the world does HP want with VoodooPC?

On the surface, the acquisition makes absolutely no sense. On the one side, there's HP, the world's second largest PC builder with shipments of 8.3 million PCs and a global market share of 15.9%, according to market research firm IDC. HP's PC revenues were about $6.9 billion in the second quarter of this year; profits came in at $275 million. HP PCs face cutthroat competition, especially with Dell, in virtually all mainstream consumer and business PC segments as well as workstation markets. HP's PC are as generic as PCs can be and are about as exciting as mom's minivan.

VoodooPC, on the other side, competes in the very small segment of custom PCs that cater to users who only care for the best and have the necessary income to pay for that. While HP does not offer PCs above $2600 (including a 19" monitor), you can spend twice that for just a (46") monitor over at Voodoo, and - if you want - up to $17,000 for a custom-built and custom painted machine that will compete in the champion's league of benchmarks. Josh Smith, chief executive officer of VoodooPC competitor Biohazard Computer Systems, described this market with an example from the automotive market: "You always could wonder why someone needs a $9000 system. But then, who really needs a Ferrari? No one. Who wants a Ferrari? Everyone."

As VoodooPC is a privately held company, it is unclear how many PCs the company actually sells, but if production volumes are a measure of exclusivity, VoodooPCs may be even more exclusive than Ferraris: It is believed that VoodooPC is one of the smaller custom PC builders in the market with less than 100 PCs shipped every month and revenues less than $1 million per month. It's an easily approachable family business with a highly loyal customer base that is now being integrated into a not so personal, giant PC builder.

So in essence, what could minivan builder HP gain from exotic sports car manufacturer Voodoo - and vice versa? Was it a desperate move for HP to match Dellienware? And if so, can HP sell a gaming PC and can VoodooPC catch up with Alienware? Can HP increase PC margins with Voodoo and will it dilute the Voodoo brand? Or, does Voodoo's future look like a Compaq PC with a fancy Voodoo logo?

These were our first questions - and surprisingly, we quickly learned that we thought into the wrong direction. HP has a different, quite innovative strategy for Voodoo in mind.