WidowPC
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| WidowPC | |
|---|---|
| Type | Public |
| Founded | 2004 |
| Headquarters | Boulder, Colorado |
| Key people | Joshua McClure |
| Industry | Computer Hardware |
| Products | High performance computer systems |
| Parent | Silicon Mountain Holdings |
| Website | www.widowpc.com |
WidowPC, based in Boulder, Colorado, shipped the world's first dual-core CPU laptop based on the AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ and debuted at the AMD press-only event at CES 2005 in Las Vegas. The company's motto is "Cutting Edge Gaming Computers - Fanatical Customer Support." The company has recently been featured in several gaming enthusiast magazines for setting PC gaming speed records on several computing platforms.
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[edit] History
Founded in 2004, WidowPC was named as a result of the founder's obsession with computers and computer games. According to the company blog, He spent so much time on his PC that his wife called herself a "PC widow" and told him he had to stop spending so much time on games unless he could find a way to make money at it.
In 2006, the Austin-American Statesman and Forbes reported article on Dell's interest in the PC gaming niche and the company's meeting with WidowPC. The articles stated that Michael Dell contacted WidowPC, along with Richard Garriott and Robert Garriott and several other small, high performance boutique computer manufacturers for information about the computer gaming niche several months prior to acquiring Alienware.
[edit] Management
The management of the company includes the company's founder, Joshua McClure, who is now the WidowPC general manager and a vice president of Silicon Mountain Holdings.
[edit] Competitors
WidowPC has traditionally competed with companies such as Falcon Northwest, Alienware, and Voodoo PC.
[edit] Operations
As of August 15, 2007, the company is headquartered in Boulder, Colorado and has its assembly facilities in Chandler, Arizona. The company sells online and over the phone.
[edit] Products
WidowPC focuses on the growing niche of computer gaming enthusiasts. As a result, their computers feature leading edge technology such as the latest AMD and Intel CPUs, high performance RAM, and overclocked video cards. Their model names all have some kind of spider association. As demonstrated in online product selection, WidowPC has supplier relationships with Clevo, eVGA, nVidia, Matrox and other high end manufacturers and espouses a philosophy of only building with the highest quality components.
[edit] Awards
WidowPC has won many industry awards including the Laptop Magazine Editor's Choice (March 2006), PC Gamer Editor's Choice (April 2006) and the Computer Gaming World Magazine Editor's Choice (March 2005) Awards. The company has also won various online awards and has been profiled in the gear sections of Forbes, Wired and Maxim magazines.
[edit] Marketing
WidowPC has had full page ads in Laptop Magazine, Computer Gaming World magazine, PC Gamer magazine, Extreme Tech magazine, and smaller ads in PC Magazine. The company's growth to this point is due to word-of-mouth, according to company employees.[citation needed]
[edit] Recent Acquisition
The company was recently acquired in an assets for cash and equity deal with Silicon Mountain Holdings of Boulder, Colorado. See company blog for more details.
