Writing in his blog, AMD Corporate Brand Vice President John Volkmann tried to explain why AMD chose to drop the ATI brand, but we can’t say that the explanation was of much help.
Basically Volkmann stressed that the decision was made after numerous surveys showed that most consumers have absolutely no idea what they are buying, making certain brands redundant. While this might be true of people who buy their gear at Wal-Mart, enthusiasts pay a bit more attention and some of them are fanatical about what they buy.
“Time and again, our research confirms that the average PC buyer is unaware of what processors are under the hood of their PC. This is why we invest very little in ‘brand-building’ with the mainstream market segment,” he wrote.
However, Volkmann pointed out that the Radeon brand wasn’t going anywhere and that it was a very strong brand by any measure. Basically it turned out that Radeon was a stronger brand than ATI, and the same apparently goes for AMD, hence the company chose to combine the two and drop the ATI badge. Sentimental value was obviously not a consideration, just cold numbers.
We’re still saddened by the decision to move away from the legendary red brand. We believe it could have been transformed into an entirely different brand, aimed mainly at the enthusiast market, but that’s a different story altogether.
You can check out Volkmann’s blog here.
- Error
“Evolving the brand”
Latest from