Intel: We're Not Ditching The Atom Brand

News
By Kevin Parrish
published

Intel has officially nuked rumors about plans to re-brand its Atom chips.

Recent reports indicate that Intel plans to re-brand its Cedar Trail processors slated for 2012 because demand for Atom-based netbooks, nettops, handheld devices, consumer electronics products and embedded devices have dropped significantly. The reason behind the decline, according to industry sources, is due to the "poor brand image" of Atom CPUs.

According to Intel's roadmap, Cedar Trail CPUs will be launched in November 2011, and will include the Atom N2800 and N2700 for netbooks, and the Atom D2700 and D2500 for nettops. Industry sources claim that the re-branding will cover Intel's N/D/Z/E lineups.

But Friday a spokesperson from Intel squashed the reports. "There are no plans to change the Atom brand. We are on track to launch new Atom processors during the fourth quarter, with more new Atom processors during the first half of 2012."

In addition to the Cedar Trail CPUs, Intel also plans to launch its Medfield CPUs for Android tablets and smartphones in the first half of 2012.

Kevin Parrish
61 Comments Comment from the forums
  • How can the article be related to itself?
    Reply
  • apache_lives
    The market is clogged with them and people are realising these tiny units are useless for anything more then basic tasks - simple.

    People always go for the cheapest nastiest options, see it all the time at my shop, we tell the customer "netbook - its basically for internet hence the name, maybe viewing photos or videos, music etc but not much more" and they still get them and still come back "oh it doesnt run my xxxxxx" "wheres the dvd" (FFS morons lol) - this is the reason.
    Reply
  • nordlead
    I actually really like the Atom processors. My File/Backup server is running on an Atom D525 and draws 31W at idle. I'm positive that since I'm drawing so little power (~10% load) on an ancient PSU that if I got myself a PicoPSU I would probably be drawing 20-25W
    Reply
  • CKKwan
    Atom is something Intel did correctly, I love Atom. Hopes it will stay!
    Reply
  • tpi2007
    Sales have dropped because:

    1.

    a) The hype has somewhat passed. Most people that bought a Netbook in 2008 have little reason to buy another one as Intel hasn't given them any reason to do so. Current Atom are still being built with 45nm technology, while Intel has been selling CPUs built on 32nm technology since the beginning of 2010. Intel has just been milking the 45nm node. And now all of a sudden are going to release 32nm Atoms later this year, and within a year, 22nm Atoms. So, 3 years at 45nm, and now just a year at 32nm. Wonder why it isn't selling more 45nm Atoms ?

    b) The Dual Core Atoms N550 and N570 are actually good performers, capable of decoding 720p in software, both offline and online (720p flash videos), but they get hot for such small platforms, with an 8.5w TDP. And then the GPU hasn't changed and you can't even play with acceptable framerates or even correctly render Half-Life 2, which came out in 2004, and the platform is still using 1.5v DDR3 that can also get hot because it is not actively cooled. The 32nm Atoms must use 1.35 or better yet, 1.25 low voltage DDR3 so-dimms, to improve battery life and perhaps more importantly, reduce heat output.

    2. AMD has come to market with better offers. Their C-30 is good competition for the N455; their C-50 is good competition for the N550, and their C-60 is even better than the N570. And I'm only talking about CPU performance. AMD wins in GPU performance all days of the week, plus it already supports 4GB of RAM, and the platform also supports HDMI out, something Intel has yet to provide. We'll have to wait for their 32nm Atoms for that. Meanwhile AMD has already sold 12 million APU's, including the Netbook oriented C-30, C-50 and C-60.

    Reply
  • clonazepam
    What's in a name? that which we call a rose
    By any other name would smell as sweet

    Sorry, I couldn't resist.
    Reply
  • DjEaZy
    Intel: We're Not Ditching The Atom Brand??? WHY!?! It's wasted silicon!!!
    Reply
  • alidan
    WitchunterHow can the article be related to itself?... its a hermaphrodite?
    Reply
  • eddieroolz
    The term netbook doesn't have a good image, period.
    Reply
  • jryan388
    They aren't, but we already have.
    Reply