Dell squashes Alienware buyout rumour

Dell has moved to quash rumours it had acquired rival PC vendor Alienware.

Speculation about a possible buyout has been rife since Rahul Sood, CEO of Voodoo PC, a US OEM computer supplier, posted his thoughts on such a move on his blog.

Sood wrote: "The PC gaming market is threatening Dell's 'perceived technology leadership' - and ultimately the consumer space. The Alienware brand is cooler than Dell, and perhaps a likely candidate for Dell to take over based on size alone."

Sood's speculation was corroborated by an anonymous source "at a high-end vendor", who told silicon.com sister site CNET.com's Rich Brown that "the deal has been done... [and] his company has received an influx of resumes from Alienware employees".

Questioning the accuracy of the information, a Dell Australia and New Zealand spokesperson, said the original source - Voodoo PC - is unreliable since the company is an Alienware competitor.

The spokesperson said: "I'd suggest you take that speculation with a grain of salt given the origin stated in the blog [Alienware's competitor] - you can never be sure what the motivation is."

He also questioned the reasons behind such an acquisition, stating that Dell has the potential to be seen as a "cool" company, and is more than capable of building viable gaming machines without Alienware's help.

He said: "Dell's XPS range already offers better performance and better value than Alienware's machines, and in the XPS mobile concept you've seen the potential of one of the cool new things Dell could do this year."

Meanwhile, Alienware released a statement that read in part: "At this time, Alienware will not comment on any speculative stories or rumours concerning Dell and Alienware's association. While we do believe that news stories like this are ultimately a strong positive reinforcement of the Alienware brand and the company's success, we will not comment on speculation or potential future events."

Roger Kay, president of research company Endpoint Technologies Associates, said the deal would be somewhat surprising given Dell's historical reluctance to grow through acquisitions, and the heavy marketing budget it allocated for its own high-end XPS PC line-up.

Alienware makes distinctively styled PCs for gamers and PC enthusiasts that tend to be pricier than basic Dell systems.

Asher Moses writes for ZDNet Australia