Graphic Cards AMD Kills ATI Brand

[krashnburn]

Well, I guess for those of us who remember ATI from pre-AMD takeover times and the ATI nVIDIA wars, the name ATI counts for something and will be missed. But the newer users probably won't care/mind.

+1 ^

Strictly from a business perspective now it is sufficient for AMD to manage one brand name and not two.
For the ones who pointed out to Castrol and BP merger and the retaining of the brand name, let me point to brand name merger of Airtel.
Airtel was only the brand name for cellular services - they also had Touchtel and one more I dont recollect.
Eventually they brought everything under one umbrella - Airtel.
Now its one of biggest non state owned players in GSM, land telephony and broadband services.
It becomes easier to manage one brand and position it appropriately and works wonders for the stock value.

How does it matter to us? The ones who would ask for an ATI Radeon HD 5870 or an MSI Radeon 5770 Hawk knowing that these two cards offer different levels of performance already know about the merger.
The ones who don't know are the ones who would walk into a shop and ask for a 1Gb graphics card within 6000 bucks (who cares what card it is/what clock speed it runs/how much heat it generates?)

Although it kinda pricks the enthusiast in us and we will all miss ATI, It will come to pass in time.

 

[eternoMind]

Well, I guess for those of us who remember ATI from pre-AMD takeover times and the ATI nVIDIA wars, the name ATI counts for something and will be missed. But the newer users probably won't care/mind.

True, brand value depends a lot on brand recall. Enthusiasts and old-timers are justified in missing the ATI branding, but keeping the newer generation in mind, so is AMD in dissolving it.

 

[sydras]

Who cares about a name? :|

Its the product that matters.

I agree with you that the product should matter. However, for most of the non tech savvy folks out there, brand perception matters.

I would cite the case of AMD itself v/s Intel. For years, folks have gone in for an Intel PC simply because they thought Intel was better. In my personal experience too, I remember that whenever I suggested an AMD system to folks looking for a VFM PC or a budget PC, their attitude immediately changed. They would come back to me with things like, I've heard that Intel gives best quality, the clock speed of Intel is better, I always wanted to own an Intel system etc. (It's funny how they were so budget conscious before but when I suggested AMD, all their frugality went out the window .)

True, brand value depends a lot on brand recall. Enthusiasts and old-timers are justified in missing the ATI branding, but keeping the newer generation in mind, so is AMD in dissolving it.

Well, I'm unable to see the need for doing so. ATI enjoys a good brand legacy and is associated with certain positive traits (eg: good IQ). While everyone enjoyed the nVidia v/s ATI wars, it was also good for sales. Why lose out on these things?

Also, the no. 1 spot in graphics card market is notorious for switching sides over time. ATI had been the underdog for some time and now AMD would also have to worry about underdog perception in their graphics business spilling over to their processor business.

I just hope that they AMD does not get branded as underdogs throughout their business .

 

[kolguy]

Well its just a name change for many ... but people who have been watching the fight between red and green for over a decade its a shift .. i remember the time when the nforce chipsets were the go to for a AMD and when ATI was doing something similar for Intel chipset.

 

[Rishi87]

Definitely it's just a name change IMO. But I wonder what will they do with ATI Ruby character. Will she be called AMD Ruby?

 

[PhOeNiX]

first of all it does not sound nice ati is a bit catchy
& secondly it might be confusing for noobs (might be confused as proccy?)

The only reason ATi Radeon sounds catchy is because we have been exposed to it for many years now. Give AMD Radeon some time, and it will grow on you for sure.

AMD will definitely lose a little bit of brand value in the earlier stages, but that mostly will be under their acceptable losses column. They have kept the logo nearly the same, so visually not a lot will be different. As far as n00bs being confused is concerned, they will always be confused. Hell only last week i got a call from a guy who wanted an nVidia card, and when i was giving him Zotac, he insisted he wants nVidia only. :frusty:.

This move in my opinion is mainly done for giving more exposure to their other line of products when the GPU's are sold. The GPU sales will have nearly unaffected if the quality and performance of the cards remains consistent. Over time if all goes right, no one will even remember ATi

 

[Zloyd]

Definitely it's just a name change IMO. But I wonder what will they do with ATI Ruby character. Will she be called AMD Ruby?

Finally someone touched apon the MOST important aspect

Well its sad to see that that ATI logo and name will not be part of the graphics wars we are going to see ahead. Im not sure it will have any implications on sales etc as all as that is dependant on the products.

 

[muzux2]

Now, ''ATI'' brand haters might consider purchasing AMD cards though ''Radeon'' name might give them feeling of being down in the dumps. :lol:

 

[MrRIG]

ATI becomes AMD --> We shall see reviews heading such as "Which is best AMD or Nvidia".

But, believe it or not after acquiring ATI, you might notice higher prices of AMD chipset based on board graphics (ATI) motherboards.

 

[hellfire]

<N00b post!> Dunno how marketing world works, but probably AMD wanted to make a demonstration of domination and establish that AMD and ATI are one and the same unit. Probably people thought that ATI and AMD were two catch-up firms against nVIDIA and Intel, respectively <shrug>