AMD's new chip a Phenom

Why is AMD changing the name of its high-end desktop processor line from Athlon to Phenom? It’s a metaphor for the company's expectations for the chips, due out later this year. AMD is aiming for its Phenom to be just that; a marvel of performance and unit sales, representing a turn-around for the company.

Thus it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise that AMD is launching a new brand name for its forthcoming high-end desktop chip. First, the Phenom, as it will now be known, represents a major change in processor design in that it’s based on the same circuitry as AMD’s forthcoming quad-core Barcelona Opteron chip. It will come in both dual and quad-core configurations.

Despite being very well known, the Athlon name has come to be associated with price-performance. The emphasis there, lately, has been on price. Phenom just sounds like it should cost more. And it will. That’s a good thing, financially, for AMD. If Phenoms perform as well as the company says they will, customers will pay premium prices for them. Meanwhile, AMD is left with a strong brand name in Athlon to compete with Intel’s low-end Pentium and Celeron processors in lower-priced PCs.

I would caution that launching a new brand name can be tricky. If not correctly communicated, the new name can create confusing among customers  as to which product they should choose for their specific needs. Clearly AMD does not want high-end PC buyers to stick with what they know (Athlon) versus what they don’t know (Phenom). But that’s why the chipmaker has announced the new brand name well in advance of the actual chips. It's latest rolling thunder operation has officially begun.