Chip guru AMD has announced that it's going to drop the ATi brand name following its takeover of the Canadian graphics underdog. Gareth Cater from AMD told Custom PC that 'the new company will be called AMD,' meaning that we could shortly be seeing AMD-branded Radeon graphics chips.We asked Richard Baker from AMD if this meant that the memorable Radeon name would also be biting the dust, but he replied that 'we haven't made any final decisions yet, but I'd personally be very surprised if we dropped any of those product names. The ATi company name is definitely going, though.'Baker stressed that, contrary to what's been reported in the press elsewhere, the acquisition will be a takeover rather than a merger, which means that AMD is going to be wearing the trousers in its relationship. Baker said that 'the company is being bought, so it's fairly standard that the name should go, as it's becoming a part of AMD.'Chris Hook from ATi shrugged off the move, saying that 'I don't have a personal emotional attachment to it [the brand], one way or another. I think the important thing is that we're going to make good products. ATi may be gone, but certainly lots of discussion is going to come over the next few days about the rest of our brands and their strengths.' Could the next Radeon chip be AMD branded?
ATI does not appear dead Comment Charlie's threepenn'orthBy Charlie Demerjian: Tuesday 08 August 2006, 12:55 THERE HAVE BEEN multiple reports about the premature death of the ATI brand.I don't think that will happen.While others may disagree, it makes no sense, Intel aside, to throw away a well recognised name that is thought of positively by most who care about these things.Leaping ahead to the meat of the matter, I am of the opinion that ATI will be kept on as a brand. Doing anything less seems just plain silly. Others (Cough! News Ed) may think differently, but I would be very surprised if it went away. That, and the fact that I asked and some AMD people, and they said: "Nope!" µ
"AMD has no plans to drop the ATi brand name or ATi's product brands. The ATi name will live on at AMD as our leading consumer brand, and so will the Radeon brand and other ATi product brands. AMD's executive management knows very well the power and value of branding, and ATi's branding is some of the most valued in the global technology industry."
ATI and AMD confirm business as usual Doing business with Intel and working with NvidiaBy Fuad Abazovic: Thursday 10 August 2006, 18:47 WE HAD the chance to meet Peter Edinger, ATI's VP and Managing director of Europe and Bubba Wolford, an old AMD PR veteran in the same jurisdiction. Neither was really ready to answer the many intriguing questions that we asked but they both agree that the companies are going to change over time. They confirmed that ATI is happy to sell its Intel Conroe-ready RD600 chipsets for as long as customers demand it and AMD doesn't have anything against that. Meanwhile, AMD is focused on its 4x4 platform and is still committed to announce the hardware in Q4 2006. The chaps claim they are on the schedule. ATI will continue to fulfil its roadmap and there won't be any serious changes over the next two or three quarters to come.Same goes for AMD. And after that you can expect to see some newborn products to issue from this marriage of convenience. We still have a couple of days to wheedle some facts out of these guys, but for the time being it seems ATI is on its own and AMD is on its own. µ
