Intel has embarked on a simplification of branding for its PC chips, saying it would phase out the Centrino name and consolidate desktop and laptop processors under the Core umbrella.

In what apparently will create a smoother structure, Centrino will be dumped in favour of three processor levels - the Core i7, Core i5, and Core i3. The first represents the best performing chips while the latter reflects the lower end of the spectrum. Starting next year, Core i7 and Core i5 chips would include Intel’s vPro security and management technology used by many firms.

The Centrino name, introduced in 2003, would be ditched as a mobile PC platform brand beginning in 2010. Instead, it would become the new name for Intel’s Wi-Fi and WiMax wireless product lines. Centrino is used currently to cover a combination of mainboard chipset, mobile processor and wireless network interface for laptops.

Intel would continue to use the Celeron name for chips targeted at inexpensive, entry-level computers, and the Pentium brand for PCs that provide basic computing. The Atom name would continue to be used for processors targetting devices ranging from netbooks to smartphones.

Intel said the changes are necessary because the current structure is too convoluted for consumers and businesses. “The fact of the matter is, we have a complex structure with too many platform brands, product names, and product brands, and we’ve made things confusing for consumers and IT buyers in the process,” Intel spokesman Bill Calder said.

However, independent bloggers refute this statement, claiming that the changes do nothing to inform customers how the Core chip would perform. Apparently the logic of having chip names that actually tell the user what is inside them has escaped Intel.
“If you buy a Core 2 Duo, punters know that they are getting a two-core processor made out of Core 2. Usually the clock speed is advertised as well. But what the hell is a Core i5 when it is at home?” asks one blogger?

“It seems the mystery is only open to those in Intel’s marketing department,” replied another miffed writer.

Changing branding is not uncommon for companies, particularly when the naming structure is seen as getting too complex for customers. Intel formally launched the Core i7 brand in November of last year with the release of quad-core desktop products.