The end of ATI..

Simon

Simon

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http://www.thestar.com/business/article/854541--computer-graphics-industry-says-good-bye-to-ati


The name ATI Technologies Inc., a former jewel of the Canadian technology industry, is poised to disappear from laptops and graphics computer chips as its owner looks to consolidate its own brand name.

Processor giant Advanced Micro Devices Inc. of California said Monday it will begin to phase out the ATI brand before the end of this year, as it rolls out a slate of new products that will incorporate both microprocessor and graphics technology on the same chip.

?There was a great deal of deliberation done on this,? said AMD spokesperson David Erskine.

?As a company we?ve been wanting to move to fewer brands because that allows us to focus better.?

Erskine agreed that the ATI name still holds significance for those who care about computer graphics. ?It?s synonymous with a great graphics experience.?

The change, which comes four years after AMD bought ATI, brought chatter to the many blogs and Internet sites devoted to computer graphics and chip technology.

?It makes sense from a marketing point of view and AMD?s reasons seem valid enough,? read one comment from a professed gamer on anandtech.com. ?However?it?s a bit sad to see such an established brand removed from the market for good.?

ATI Technologies was founded as a one-man operation in 1985 by K.Y. Ho, an immigrant from Hong Kong.

By 1995, ATI had grown to become the world?s biggest maker of 3D graphics cards for personal computers, with sales exceeding $1 billion annually.

Along the way, the company battled rival chip maker Nvidia and was prone to the many ups and downs of the consumer technology market.

The Markham-based firm also drew scrutiny from stock market regulators over allegations of insider trading. Ho and his wife successfully fought the charges, while other company executives settled with the Ontario Securities Commission through the mid-2000s.

In October, 2006, ATI shareholders voted overwhelmingly in favour of the $5.6 billion (U.S.) takeover by Sunnyvale, Calif.-based AMD. The deal came about one year after Ho stepped away from the company.

AMD said that all existing products will retain the current ATI brand. But with the launch of its next generation of video cards, due by the end of 2010, all the company?s video properties will be rebranded AMD. The names of popular individual lines Radeon and FirePro will not change.

?I think the company was just waiting for the right time,? said Matthew Murray, managing editor of ExtremeTech.com.

That time seems to have come, with ADM surpassing Nvidia in graphic chip shipments last quarter.

?The technology speaks for itself. The company?s latest graphics card has been very good, very fast, very powerful and cost efficient,? Murray said.

The change will be visible to consumers, said Shane Schick, editor in chief of IT World Canada, which publishes Computer World Canada and CIO Canada magazines.

?A lot of laptops sold today will have the ATI logo. When AMD is on there instead it will create more brand recognition. It?s also easier to manage one brand than two,? Schick said.

?I think in Canada because of ATI?s success we still have a bit more pride and concern over what the name stood for. But given the industry consolidation it?s not realistic to think that would continue indefinitely.?
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To me, it sounds like they want to make integrated chips like intel...and that isnt good.

At least Radeon will still live
 
Uh oh.

Why would they do that...
 
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iSimon said:
Sadly, i just got an ATI card, but i think my next will be an nvidia... :(
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Yeh I am fine with either company, but I am not a supporter of AMD and never will be. I think this is a nice-sounding short-term business proposition for AMD but will lose them money and customers in the long-run. AMD needs to open their eyes and realize that the majority of the money made in the cpu industry is made by intel, and more direct competition wont do them any good without a decent line of cpu's to match intel's technology.

-Blue
 
You guy's aren't up to date on the facts of the matter.

1) How many products does AMD make that still sport the ATI logo, where people ONLY recognize that product by that logo (meaning they don't know AMD is the maker for them now)?

Answer: Only two products: Radeons and FirePro, both their GPU markets. Brand wise, AMD is now more widely known than ATI, and despite AMD's shortcomings the past few years, AMD's brand can be, conceivably, be stronger than ATI, on a business standpoint. The thinking is AMD vs nVidia is a better marketing standpoint than ATI vs nVidia. Unfortunately, that's based off of their own internal research, but that's what they're thinking nonetheless. So to sum up: People know Radeons and FirePro regardless of the ATI tag, and those knowledgeable of the AMD-ATI merger will prefer the AMD brand over the ATI by a 3-1 margin.

ATI's chipset team was incorporated immediately into the various AMD offices for their knowledge in making compatible chipsets, so that subdivision of ATI was the first to lose it's "identity."

Additionally, not everyone is still wholly sure why AMD bought ATI in the first place. nVidia was the best GPU for them back in the early 2000's, the one that worked the best. Athlon64 + 6xxx series from nVidia was a great gaming PC. Some of the ideas about why AMD bought ATI was: AMD wanted to get to start making a CPGPU, finetune their chipsets, deny Intel a GPU manufacturer that worked best with their CPUs, and a very, very bad gamble (which is also true since they had to write down the original $5.4 billion to $2 billion, the other $3 billion a waste of funds)

Also, Blue Stealth, AMD is working on making new CPUs (which sounds like a few have some promise). You can dislike their CPU and company all you want, but it's best for EVERYONE that AMD remains a working (and profitable) company, as history has shown the negative effects of a monopolistic enterprise system, especially one that's dominated Intel (Secret PC Manufacturer contracts prohibiting them to buy AMD if they want wholesale value on CPU's is just one example). Plus, AMD has opened its eyes and has known since 2006, 2007 (when the Core2Duo came out) that Intel is dominating its industry. That's why they had to spinoff of its fabrication factories into Global Foundries, just to remain competitive on a financial standpoint, and why they've made a big push with it's GPU division; revenues for the past year increased 87% for 2nd quarter statements, pushed mainly through its success with the 5xxx series. AMD is struggling with its CPU market, namely, they're in an unenviable position for marketing/research and shipping products; they're constrained on how many wafers they are able to produce, and when that happens, the number of new wafers for CPU's and GPU's are limited (those that are currently being tested or just about to be phased in as a full retail product).

I already said wayyy too much, but rest assured, closing the ATI brand isn't the end of the world for AMD when it's already been dead since the beginning of this year.
 
Forgot to add: I do NOT think AMD will be losing customers in the long-term for this move, as it's already so low in the CPU market, that any negative effects are really based off of its R&D and the ability to ship products that can successfully compete against the iX-core CPUs from Intel. The demand for AMD GPU's will continue to increase, with at worst, a small short-term loss in customers that will be recovered within a year or two because of the momentum and success AMD is having with that division.
 
Hmm, not even a year ago people on here were saying this exact same thing would happen to Nvidia. Guess again.
 
iSimon said:
http://www.thestar.com/business/article/854541--computer-graphics-industry-says-good-bye-to-ati







To me, it sounds like they want to make integrated chips like intel...and that isnt good.

At least Radeon will still live
Click to expand...

ATI has always been Radeon.
And how are integrated chips not good? It cuts cost on buying a GPU for an HTPC or workstation PC.

eurocracy said:
Uh oh.

Why would they do that...
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It's still the same company, they just had a name change to (hopefully) increase sales.

Blue Stealth said:
Yeh I am fine with either company, but I am not a supporter of AMD and never will be. I think this is a nice-sounding short-term business proposition for AMD but will lose them money and customers in the long-run. AMD needs to open their eyes and realize that the majority of the money made in the cpu industry is made by intel, and more direct competition wont do them any good without a decent line of cpu's to match intel's technology.

-Blue
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Uh, why? That sounds stupid -no offense. It sounds like blatant fanboyism. Enjoy wasting money.

Snipeye said:
snip snip
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Yeah, I read all about that. I think it's good. I wasn't too fond of the ATI logo. I prefer Radeon.
 
Think of what intel did with integrated chips. I dont want to see ATI fall to that standard.
 
So are the 5xxx series going to be the last cards with the ATI name on them? That just makes my 5870 that much cooler :D
 
Ph?bus said:
Why? That is fanboyism, brah.
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Sounds more like hateboyism to me, brah. Seeing how he doesn't like Intel either. :P

I like Intel, but am hoping Bulldozer will live up to the hype. If it does, I might go that route on my next build.

And for GPUs I'm an Nvidia fanboy just cause of folding@home performance.
 
He doesn't have to be called a 'fanboy' if he doesn't like a certain company. I'm not a huge fan of ATI, just because of the experience I've had with them being very unreliable. But, I still think they make (made?) some very nice products.
 
I've always preferred Intel & nVidia over AMD & ATI. Mainly cause there is more quality with Intel and nVidia. AMD aims its market to be those who cannot afford more. I built a computer for my grandma recently. I decided to go with AMD on it since budget limitations. I have to say for getting a quad-core AMD processor it sure seemed like I was buying a Celeron. The AMD quad-core couldn't even preform half as well as my Intel Core2Duo, even though it had been almost two years since I bought the Intel Core2Duo.

*sigh* Any true hardcore gamer, in my opinion, would stick with Intel and nVidia.
 
Kigen said:
I've always preferred Intel & nVidia over AMD & ATI. Mainly cause there is more quality with Intel and nVidia. AMD aims its market to be those who cannot afford more. I built a computer for my grandma recently. I decided to go with AMD on it since budget limitations. I have to say for getting a quad-core AMD processor it sure seemed like I was buying a Celeron. The AMD quad-core couldn't even preform half as well as my Intel Core2Duo, even though it had been almost two years since I bought the Intel Core2Duo.

*sigh* Any true hardcore gamer, in my opinion, would stick with Intel and nVidia.
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My desktop runs on Intel and nVidia. I chose them because i knew i would get the most out of it.


Not saying the other ones are bad, but i like it.
 
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