HP is integrating its gaming brands OMEN and HyperX. It is positioning HyperX as the master brand to build a consistent gaming ecosystem spanning PC hardware and peripherals such as keyboards and headsets. HP Korea held its first official media briefing since the integration at Freakup Studio on Wednesday and unveiled its new product lineup and gaming business direction.

HP Korea executive director Byeonghong So (소병홍) explained the background to the integration, saying HP had operated with OMEN for hardware and HyperX for peripherals, making it difficult to offer customers a unified experience. Some customers did not know the two brands belonged to the same company, he said. HP decided to shift to a single-brand system to improve marketing efficiency and simplify the customer purchasing experience.

The basis for choosing HyperX as the integrated brand was consumer awareness. So said social media sentiment analysis showed HyperX ranked first among peripheral brands. He said the brand’s recognition and preference in gamer communities was judged to be higher than OMEN’s.

OMEN will not disappear completely. Gaming laptops will be kept as sub-brands under HyperX, such as the "HyperX OMEN Max 16", and monitors as "HyperX OMEN OLED 27Q".

The integration is also part of HP’s "One HP" strategy. HP said it has various endpoint devices, including PCs, printing, Poly videoconferencing solutions and HyperX gaming gear, but there was an internal assessment that synergies across businesses had not been sufficiently realised even after acquisitions.

So said the approach is to keep OMEN’s technology while absorbing HyperX’s understanding of gamer culture and its ability to reflect feedback quickly. He said this is HP opening chapter two in the gaming market.

The key feature of the new products unveiled on Wednesday is enhanced CPU power. HP said it focused on CPU power rather than GPU power (TGP) in its 2026 lineup. The OMEN Max 16 provides 300W TPP (Total Platform Power), up 50W from 250W a year earlier. The OMEN 16 rises by 30W and the OMEN 15 by 65W.

Byungjip Yoon (윤병집), a manager at HP Korea, said performance in games such as League of Legends and Valorant depends on CPU power rather than GPU power. He said HP focused on raising CPU power to optimise for games with high market share in South Korea.

The HyperX OMEN 15 includes an 8,000Hz high polling rate keyboard. That is 8 times faster response speed than the previous 200Hz. It adds a separate MCU (microcontroller) to the keyboard PCB to accelerate signals going to the CPU. Yoon said in FPS games outcomes can be decided by a 0.01-second difference, and differences in keyboard response speed can determine wins and losses. HP also increased the size of the arrow keys, a long-standing user complaint.

Display options were also expanded significantly. OLED panels, previously applied only to the OMEN Max, were expanded across the entire lineup. Options with 100 percent DCI-P3 colour gamut and brightness of 400 nits or more are provided across all product groups. In the monitor lineup, HP will release products with up to a 500Hz refresh rate.

PC component prices rising, but "premium and entry markets are growing"

So presented an optimistic view on the outlook for the gaming PC market. HP said gaming PCs account for about 30 percent of the overall consumer PC market now and are expected to grow to 40 percent by 2028. The overall PC market is expected to show a modest decline in units, but HP said overall revenue could increase as average selling prices rise due to growth in AI PCs and gaming PCs.

On concerns about rising component prices and global consumption weakening, So said HP would respond with a market segmentation strategy. He said current trends show the mainstream market shrinking, but the premium and entry markets are growing. He said HP’s biggest strength is its diverse portfolio, and that it can respond flexibly to market changes by offering products suited to demand in each segment from entry to premium.

HP did not disclose specific shipment targets. According to the industry, HP gaming PC sales reached about 65,000 units in 2022, rising to second place, and HP Korea is currently ranked No. 1 in the domestic branded gaming PC market for 13 consecutive quarters. Including fourth-quarter results, it is expected to extend that to 14 straight quarters. So said it is difficult to say how many units HP will sell this year because the market outlook is unclear, but added that HP will sell more than last year and raise its market share percentage in the gaming market.