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HP

HP is Buying Gaming Accessory Brand HyperX for $425 Million (theverge.com) 47

Posted by msmash from the moving-forward dept.
HP has announced that it is acquiring gaming peripheral company HyperX for $425 million. The purchase will give HP a major foothold in the gaming accessory market. From a report: This transaction will result in HP buying the HyperX brand from Kingston, the current owner, but HP notes in the announcement post that "Kingston will retain the DRAM, flash, and SSD products for gamers and enthusiasts." HP has been making strides to enter the gaming peripheral space for the last several years but has not gained much traction compared to other brands such as Corsair and Logitech. HyperX is one of the most notable brands in this space, with gaming accessories ranging from PC gaming peripherals to gaming microphones.
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HP is Buying Gaming Accessory Brand HyperX for $425 Million More

HP is Buying Gaming Accessory Brand HyperX for $425 Million

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  • Whelp (Score:5, Insightful)

    by DarkRookie2 ( 5551422 ) on Wednesday February 24, 2021 @11:08AM (#61095514)
    They were an ok brand. Never had an issue with them, but nothing was ever built the best.
    Now it will be shit. Like all of HP.

    • > Now it will be shit. Like all of HP.

      Maybe the upside is gamers don't care if their rig doesn't last three years?

      But I would take the $425M and run too - can't blame Kingston one iota. That's a crazy price. HP shareholders should be [even more] worried.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by cfalcon ( 779563 )

        > Maybe the upside is gamers don't care if their rig doesn't last three years?

        Maybe. The gamers all these brands sell to are really in to the hobby and view it as a luxury play to buy something that is optimized for gaming (in computing terms this values speed over scale and latency over bandwidth) and is branded as such, as this gear will be seen by others (even if you have to take pictures and post them on social media). This means that they are willing to pay a much higher premium than, say, anyone

      • Just as long as it doesn't go the same way as Autonomy when they over-paid for that.

    • They were an ok brand. Never had an issue with them, but nothing was ever built the best.

      Now it will be shit. Like all of HP.

      I'm wondering how they will create an extra consumable market for gaming accessories. Maybe new covers for microphones, or springs for joysticks that break every week or so? /s

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by cfalcon ( 779563 )

        > I'm wondering how they will create an extra consumable market

        I'm listening to synthwave ( this guy to be precise, he does long streams https://www.youtube.com/channe... [youtube.com] ) on my HyperX headset, and I want to point out, that haven't had to fill it up with headset fluid in quite some time, so that's an area where HP can really capitalize.

        • Hmm. Did you maybe forgot to unselect the setting: "Auto-order headset fluid as necessary or twice per week whichever is more frequent ? [ ]"

    • Agreed. Anyone remember 3com from the late 90s? They were the gold standard in networking cards. The 3c905 (or 3c920 integrated) was one of the best network cards on the market at the time, and they had full driver support for every OS under the Sun. Then, HP buys them, and BOOM, they are flushed them straight down the toilet. The 3c905 never (officially) recieved 64 bit Windows XP drivers, and so they fell into relative obscurity.

      Interestingly, the cards do still work well with some versions of 64-bit

    • agreed... it is an OMEN that HyperX were never as good as they claimed to be

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Build6 ( 164888 )

      Omen laptops have been selling well. Recent generation has been reviewed positively.

  • the only part of HyperX that anyone cared about?

    • I didn't even know they made anything else. If I had I might have looked into it because I'm always up for some anytingbutrazer.

    • I tought they only made keyboards or (too expensive) game headphones...

      Anyway I'm old enough to know HP will destroy the brand in a few years

    • the only part of HyperX that anyone cared about?

      I also thought it was just a "gaming" brand of Kingston. I happen to have a pair of HyperX memory modules, but I don't see what's so "hyper" about them; the heatsinks don't have protruding fins like my faster non-HyperX modules do, which obviously explains the speed difference.

      Incidentally, /. fortune agrees with me: "There are no games on this system."

    • I think their headsets are the most respected. I haven't seen any hyperx brand SSDs, but the memory is tolerable at least.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by chrish ( 4714 )

      The only HyperX anything I've got is a very nice sounding set of wired headphones suggested by @SwiftOnSecurity on Twitter. The only downside is the flakey adapter they use for plugging phones/mic into one of those combo sockets... I never use the mic, so that was easy enough to solve.

      I haven't built a machine in ages... I'm not a proper PC Master Race person, I game on a laptop. Running Linux.

    • No. Their headset has been testen and reviewed numerous times as one of the best options in their price range. My son has one, the sound quality is quite good. A bit heavy in the lows for my taste but not nearly so much as other headsets. Very nice dynamic range. If you want better quality you're looking at twice the price.

  • The real news (Score:3)

    by Arthur, KBE ( 6444066 ) on Wednesday February 24, 2021 @11:29AM (#61095586)
    Is that HP has $425 million

  • Has HP ever bought a company and not destroyed it within a couple years?

    • You're bitter too. Sorry for duping your comment.

      • I remember when HP was making cool things, like the LaserJet III, cheating calculators and mass-spectrometers.

        • I remember when HP acquired OpenVMS and the Alpha Processor. Drove them straight into the ground, as they tanked Compaq. Bunch o' losers.

          • The writing was already on the wall for special CPUs at the time. Only IBM has the spare cash to maintain their own architecture, and they only have it because of all the government contracts.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by chrish ( 4714 )

          Ooh, remember the DeskJet 500? That thing was revolutionary... cheap, with high-quality output, using normal paper. And you could refill the ink cartridges using India ink. Glorious!

          Then MBAs switched printers to the disposable razor model and printers just kept getting worse and worse forever. I'm constantly irritated? surprised? at how awful printer software is.

  • HP. When good companies turn to shit, buy more good companies, and turn them to shit.

  • Welcome to bloatware land, HyperX (Score:5, Insightful)

    by magarity ( 164372 ) on Wednesday February 24, 2021 @11:53AM (#61095670)

    Now to install your HyperX headphones you'll need a 2GB driver download that will include a daily reminder to subscribe to monthly replacement ear pad foam deliveries.

  • Just bought some HyperX memory a few days ago, because it was one of the better preforming on the benchmarks. HP will try and extract every last dollar out of HyperX, the quality will go down, it won't be worth buying in a few years.

    • Just bought some HyperX memory a few days ago, because it was one of the better preforming on the benchmarks. HP will try and extract every last dollar out of HyperX, the quality will go down, it won't be worth buying in a few years.

      The old saw about people not even reading the summary applies here:

      "Kingston will retain the DRAM, flash, and SSD products for gamers and enthusiasts."

      This sale is for all the misc peripherals like keyboard, mouse/trackball, headphones. All the fluff accessories.

  • Dell had run Alienware in mostly as hands off, and still has a separate line of gaming (G5) laptops under their brand. If hp does the same, and leaves HyperX alone, it might actually work. There is a precedent.

    • Yeah, they *could* make it work... but this is HP, which is a graveyard for acquired companies. The trend isn't really on HyperX's side here.

      Someday we'll probably be adding them to the list with 3Com, Compaq, Palm, and SGI

    • Dell had run Alienware in mostly as hands off, and still has a separate line of gaming (G5) laptops under their brand. If hp does the same, and leaves HyperX alone, it might actually work. There is a precedent.

      Alienware was bought by Dell the same year HP bought VoodooPC, one of Alienware's direct competitors. HP released two machines with VoodooPC branding in the Vista era, then ignored the IP entirely, then came out with the "Omen" line almost a decade later that's basically Pavilion-grate hardware that's priced by-the-LED.

      Dell at least knew what they were buying, knew that the brand had some recognition and that people would pay a premium for it, and so they kept it around. HP bought VoodooPC and took a tax wr

  • Is a 2nd tier gaming accessory company worth half a billion? I am noticing HP, Ikea, Herman Miller, falling over themselves to get in the gaming market. I don't get it. 1. Is the market that huge? 2. Are there THAT many enthusiasts willing to pay top dollar for premium gear? If you have lots of money, you usually don't waste it all on blinking lights...if you're impulsive enough to pay tons of money for flashing LEDs for your gaming gear no one will ever see, you probably don't have much money. I d
    • I would say yes because the gaming stuff is better than normal consumer stuff and it isn't like it is all that more expensive. Not like high end stuff for CAD and video editing. Especially if its your main hobby. My $50 mouse and $100 keyboard all out perform any consumer stuff out (the precision is better and the build quality is better) and is well worth the price. My gaming chair was only $250 and is better than every chair in the office.
      A gaming PC cannot be a basic PC. The parts are too high end for t

    • If you have lots of money, you usually don't waste it all on blinking lights.

      The issue is that virtually all the high performance stuff now has blinking LED's by default... I'd pay a premium to get the same thing without the neon blinking garbage on it, but it's literally impossible. You just have to turn the LED's off so you're stuff isn't garish...

      • If you have lots of money, you usually don't waste it all on blinking lights.

        The issue is that virtually all the high performance stuff now has blinking LED's by default... I'd pay a premium to get the same thing without the neon blinking garbage on it, but it's literally impossible. You just have to turn the LED's off so you're stuff isn't garish...

        This is exactly right. I built a new gaming PC late last year, and had a hard time finding quality, high performance, parts without a bunch of garish and unnecessary RGB lighting on it. I am still looking for a decent backlit mechanical keyboard that is affordable, and not horrible looking. Keyboard with just some basic red LEDS, that is all I really want. (Should be cheaper, shouldn't it? Without the expense of RGB LEDs.)

        • I have the Corsair K68 (CH-9102020-NA) - That one is red LED's only. If you shop on eBay though the K68 RGB is actually cheaper than the K68... Which seems kinda stupid. You might as well get the RGB one to save a few bucks, and just set it to be red.

    • The big reason everyone enters the space is because people are paying top dollar for low quality office chairs that have been given a paint coat. Ignore the rest: the chairs is where the money is.

  • Or will they be suing people claiming faud [theregister.com] again?

  • HP can't even get out keyboards and mice to their customers.* How are they supposed to do anything in the gamer market?

    * Not kidding. I'm waiting on several orders from HP because they can't supply keyboards and mice. All I keep being told is they have a supply issue.

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