AMD may halt processor branding once the company completes its Llano and Zambezi processor lineup. The reason is that AMD reportedly wants to emphasize its corporate AMD Vision trademark and focus consumer attention to its corporate brand.
The news arrives by way of a mysterious document received by X-bit Labs. Although the site didn't provide a scanned copy for all to see, the document supposedly reveals that AMD will divide its processors into three different classes of its Vision platforms including FX-Series, A-Series and E-Series. That means we may not see another Phenom, Athlon or Sempron-related branding on our AMD CPUs ever again. Really, it will be ok.
The AMD document supposedly indicates that the FX-Series will consist of "Zambezi" processors based on Bulldozer micro-architecture with four, six or eight cores. These will be sold using the AMD Vision Black and AMD Vision Ultimate labels.
The A-Series processors will consist of the "Llano" APUs (accelerated processing units). These will have two or four cores and an ATI Radeon HD 6000-class graphics core. These will be sold on AMD Vision Ultimate and AMD Vision Premium platforms.
As for the E-Series, this group will serve the low-end market with APU's using one or two cores and a basic Radeon HD 6000-class "Zacate" graphics core. This series will be sold simply as AMD Vision.
"What you saw AMD do with APUs on the 'Brazos' platform is get component-level branding out of the way so that our OEM partners can imbue their products with branding of their choosing without sub-brands cluttering things up," said Damon Muzny, a spokesman for AMD, in a previous statement. "Vision is AMD's contribution, which comes with the intention of simplifying the purchasing for folks who know what they want to do with their PC and don't care to learn the intricate sub-component technical nuances to make a buying decision. Will we do the same with Llano and Zambezi? You'll have to wait and see."
Currently there's no indication of when this re-branding will take place.
