AMD to Ditch the ATI Brand for Radeon Graphics

[topgear]

Goodbye, ATI.

The ATI brand has been around the computing space for as long as many of us can remember. Four years ago, AMD acquired ATI but left the name to live on due to its strong brand in the graphics space. Now those days are over, as the graphics division at the chipmaker is at its strongest.

AMD confirmed that it will be phasing out the ATI brand later this year, though it will hang on to the Radeon and FirePro names. Apparently, the names Radeon and FirePro themselves are strong in markets and that ATI label itself isn't as important as AMD.



According to its own research sources, people's preference for AMD triples when he or she is aware of the ATI merger. Not only that, but the AMD brand itself is stronger than ATI's when it is compared to competitors, such as Nvidia. Given this sort of data, AMD decided that now was the perfect time to retire the ATI name.



Besides just the market research surrounding the strength of the AMD brand, the company's reason to consolidate it all under the single name is the blurring of lines between its CPU and GPU offerings. With AMD pushing that the future is Fusion, it seemed like the right time to ditch the graphics branding before the technologies are combined in the upcoming Llano and Ontario chips.



Say goodbye to the old logos and say hello to the new ones with the ATI stamp. Note that there will also be versions of the logo completely devoid of any AMD branding as well, which were created supposedly at the request of OEMs not wanting to confuse the customer at how a single computer could have both an Intel and AMD sticker at the same time.



"We may be saying goodbye to the brand, but the spirit of ATI lives on – in our AMD Radeon and AMD FirePro graphics products, our VISION Technology platforms and soon, in every AMD Fusion APU," said John Volkmann, Corporate Vice President, Brand Marketing, AMD.



How do you feel about the old, familiar ATI brand being sent out to pasture?

Source

[gagan007]

wow...that's some news topgear

but this news makes me happy and sad at the same time...first of all no manufacturer should have monopoly in the market. this reduces the chance of low priced products as well as innovation which a healthy competition guarantees.

[ssk_the_gr8]

it was going to happen sooner or later.....
it's just a name change

[Sam]

if demand for AMD rises, it'll definitely loose the "value" tag.

[topgear]

I think it's kinda OK for AMD to ditch the ATI brand name tagging

[Cool Buddy]

it was getting confusing, some people writing AMD some ATI, better have uniformity. But will definitely miss the ATI logo.
Changing the name to AMD will give AMD greater recognition and will also help improve its reputation in the processor market. It is a good move by AMD

[Faun]

good .good.

[ssk_the_gr8]

intel will hate it.... now every laptop with amd discrete graphics.... will have an amd logo on it along with the intel logo...

hence more brand recognition for amd... it's actually a good move...

[topgear]

^^ I did not think it in that way ... anyway great thinking by you

[Cool Buddy]

yeah, that might have been the thinking behind the move. All dell laptops use ATi graphics, so now they'll carry both Intel & AMD logo. Guess Intel will make dell ditch ATi too. Next range of dell laptops coming with geforce go! I bet

[Sam]

actually ATI is famous for its graphics (most sub 40k lappy have ATI logo). AMD is not (most ppls think AMD to be same as 2007-2008. weird heating issues). so bring ATI & AMD together (i mean replace ATI with AMD) & have more revenue in your pocket. actually ssk_the_gr8 theory make more sense.

when told about it to my friends & college mates asked if AMD has taken ATI down. this gave me an idea, most know about ATI (from the laptops) hardly anyone about AMD.

[ssk_the_gr8]

Originally Posted by Cool Buddy

yeah, that might have been the thinking behind the move. All dell laptops use ATi graphics, so now they'll carry both Intel & AMD logo. Guess Intel will make dell ditch ATi too. Next range of dell laptops coming with geforce go! I bet

it wont be that simple cause amd has the better and more power efficient graphics cards right now. And secondly those kind of evil practices by intel are not easy anymore . I know it's still possible but FTC and the EU have an eye on them.

[abhijangda]

will surely miss ATI logo.

[topgear]

Originally Posted by Cool Buddy

yeah, that might have been the thinking behind the move. All dell laptops use ATi graphics, so now they'll carry both Intel & AMD logo. Guess Intel will make dell ditch ATi too. Next range of dell laptops coming with geforce go! I bet

Intel might release some cpu based on sandy bridge for laptops and sandy bridge has great gaming performance for casual gamers - so intel might only use their logo on future laptops

check out this :

The Sandy Bridge Preview - AnandTech :: Your Source for Hardware Analysis and News