WidowPC

Infobox Company
company_name = WidowPC
company_
vector_
company_type = Public
foundation = 2004
location = Boulder, Colorado
origins =
key_people = Joshua McClure
area_served =
industry = Computer Hardware
products = High performance computer systems
revenue =
operating_income =
net_income =
num_employees =
parent = Silicon Mountain Holdings
subsid =
homepage = [http://www.widowpc.com/ www.widowpc.com]
footnotes =

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.

History

Founded in 2004, by Joshua McClure, 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 [http://www.statesman.com/search/content/shared/money/stories/coxnews/ALIENWARE_0324_COX.html 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.

Management

The management of the company includes the management designated by the parent holding company, Silicon Mountain Holdings.

Competitors

WidowPC has traditionally competed with companies such as Falcon Northwest, Alienware, and Voodoo PC.

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.

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.

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.

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.Fact|date=January 2008

Recent Acquisition

The company was recently acquired in an assets for cash and equity deal with Silicon Mountain Holdings of Boulder, Colorado. See [http://www.widowpc.com/2007/10/widowpc_face_li.php company blog] for more details.

ee also

*List of computer system manufacturers

External links

* [http://www.widowpc.com/ WidowPC Gaming Computer website]
* [http://www.resellerratings.com/seller8781.html Reseller Ratings Store Ratings]