Way back in 2006 AMD shocked the technology world by acquiring Canadian graphics company Array Technologies Inc (ATI). Since that time ATI's Radeon graphics cards have become one of AMD's major strengths, thanks largely to the company's CPUs slipping behind Intel's in the performance stakes.
Since the acquisition AMD has continued to use the ATI brand for its Radeon graphics cards. That changes today, as AMD announces that the next generation of graphics from the company will not use the ATI branding.
Instead the cards will be labelled AMD Radeon. Despite the name change the logos will be remarkably similar to that used currently. They will still bear ATI's trademark red colouring but the ATI has been replaced by AMD.
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| Examples of the new logos for the Radeon and FirePro products. Those at bottom are designed for OEM products such as laptops. |
It's a bold move by AMD, even if it has been expected since AMD acquired ATI in 2006. On one hand the ATI brand is 25 years old, and bears a long legacy in the graphics market. On the other hand, however, the Radeon brand has been at the core of ATI's success in the past decade.
The new logos are quite similar to the old ones, even to the degree that the change from AMD to ATI is barely noticeable at first glance. We will see if this has any lasting impact when the next generation of Radeon cards is released later this year
We had the opportunity to ask AMD's Australia and New Zealand Country Manager, Brian Slattery, a few questions about the transition and what it means for the products currently sitting under the ATI brand.
Does this announcement mean that the ATI brand will cease to exist?
[Slattery, Brian] Yes, over time. Based on detailed research and customer input to focus our brand efforts, AMD is transitioning the ATI brand to AMD. The first products to carry the AMD Radeon brand will be launched later this year, while existing products will continue to maintain the ATI brand until they reach their end-of-life. Within the next few months, all ATI products and technologies will transition to the new AMD branding.
Will we see the introduction of the new AMD Radeon labeling with the upcoming "Southern Islands" GPUs (the rumoured codename for the next update to the Radeon architecture) or will it be introduced before then?
[Slattery, Brian] Customers can expect new consumer graphics products from AMD to be branded with AMD Radeon rather than ATI Radeon. Similarly, graphics-related technologies such as ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology, and ATI Catalyst drivers, will change over to the AMD brand over the course of the next few months.
Will the ATI branding be removed from the Catalyst drivers, and if so when?
[Slattery, Brian] ATI Catalyst drivers, along with other graphics related technology such as ATI Eyefinity multi-display technology, will change to the AMD brand over the course of the next few months. This consolidation now means that the majority of AMD branding bears the old ATI red colour scheme.
Will AMD continue to use green as a corporate colour or switch to red?
[Slattery, Brian] AMD is not changing its corporate logo or AMD corporate brand identity, which includes the use of green. Additionally, AMD will continue to use the AMD Vision branding and its established colour palette.