Qualcomm Kinda Spins Out Snapdragon – As A Brand, Not A Business

LogoWatch Qualcomm has decided that its Snapdragon silicon can stand on its own as a brand.

The system-on-chip designer has explained that decision in a post that asserts Snapdragon – the moniker Qualcomm uses for its SoCs – has become "a leading cross-category technology brand".

Warning: marketing-speak flows thick and fast in the next couple of quotes.

"As our audience grows and affinity builds, Snapdragon will be at the heart of more devices than ever before, inspiring new fans around the world," Qualcomm's statement bubbles. "Our brand will need a bigger tent, a longer playing field so to speak, to broaden its appeal while keeping true to its core." So mixed metaphors are totally cool apparently.

"With this in mind we're applying new creative thinking, celebrating our brand iconography while modernizing, streamlining, and simplifying. We're giving Snapdragon room for continued recognition and relevance with current fans, and for discovery and resonance with new ones. And we couldn't be more thrilled with the evolution. It's new, it's fresh and it's time.” And it's barely grammatical.

What does that all mean?

For starters, "Snapdragon will be a standalone product brand with specific ties to the Qualcomm brand where appropriate." How that works has not been explained.

Nor has a looming change to Snapdragon model numbers, which Qualcomm promises will bring "a new simplified and consistent naming structure” that makes it easier for punters to understand what they are buying – because products will feature a single-digit series and generation number.

Qualcomm's teaser image for all this new marketing stuff. Click to enlarge

The post enthuses that "our newest flagship Snapdragon 8-series platform" will show off those names. Qualcomm's current names start with the series and go higher depending on a product's capabilities. The Snapdragon 820 is therefore not as great as the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 888+. The new naming scheme has – you guessed it – not been revealed.

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• Qualcomm gets news of modest Snapdragons out of the way before next month's big chip launch

The US giant has also made the very original decision to reserve Gold as the colour for its premium products, while introducing a colour palette that includes "Midnight, Gunmetal, Nickel, and Snapdragon Red." One of those words is actually a colour, so points to Qualcomm.

Qualcomm fans: brace yourself for news that this makeover will also mean the company's "iconic 'fireball' will gain new prominence and manifest itself in new visual assets and other creative executions." Perhaps even on the new product badges the company promises will display "a cleaner, modern, straightforward look and feel." No sign of those badges just yet, though. The suspense is killing us.

Qualcomm's post promises it will fill in the many blanks mentioned above at the Snapdragon Tech Summit that kicks off on November 30.

The Register can't wait to see what the marketers came up with. If Qualcomm also discusses some new tech – which it has promised to do – we might stick around for that, too. ®