Intel (INTC) Deploys Astonishingly Confusing Branding For New Chips

Intel (INTC), which for years has spent hundreds of million of dollars on branding, is launching a new series of chips. The branding plan for these is more complex than the processors themselves. The company has used the "Core" designation of many of its consumer chips for the last several years.

Intel’s new chip line will be designated "i7". According to the company, "These processors will feature Intel Hyper-Threading Technology, also known as simultaneous multi-threading, and are capable of handling eight software “threads” on four processor cores."

How the new capacities of the processor can be associated with the "i7" branding may be something Intel understands, but there is little chance anyone else will.

Douglas A. McIntyre