Juggling marketing terms is not a new phenomenon in IT, but at CES the pendulum seems to swing all the way through. If there is no Pro, Max, Ultra or other superlative in the name, a product no longer counts.
At the CES trade fair, product launches followed one another in quick succession, as usual. All major PC manufacturers unveiled their models for the coming year. In order to stand out among all the announcements, (debatable) world premieres and creative product names were liberally sprinkled about.
One trend stands out to us: marketing departments are allowed to go completely wild this year. No superlative is exaggerated or superfluous. If you, as a manufacturer, want to show that you mean business, stick words like Pro, Max, Ultra, Plus, Premium (or a combination) of them behind the product name. Any meaning those terms ever had is completely lost.
Courtesy of Apple
Illustrative of the name craze is Dell’s rebranding effort. Under the slogan “New Year, New Me,” Dell is completely revamping its PC portfolio. The familiar brand names Latitude, Inspiron or Precision are disappearing for simply Dell, Dell Pro or Dell Pro Max. Sounds simple, right? The manufacturer itself thinks so, too: “When customers buy a PC from us, it’s for the Dell brand name,” said COO Jeff Clarke at a press briefing.
Admittedly, we haven’t yet found a good dictionary definition for Inspiron , and Latitude (literally “latitude” in Dutch) has little to do with PCs. But Dell’s new naming scheme is very similar to that of a certain smartphone brand. Apple has been using the suffixes Pro and Pro Max to distinguish its iPhones for years. To that comment, Dell has an appropriate response ready: these are “industry terms” that do not belong exclusively to one manufacturer.
When customers buy a Dell PC, it is for the Dell brand name.
Jeff Clarke, COO Dell Technologies
Pro: sometimes professional, not always
We can’t completely prove Dell wrong, but not for the right reasons. Pro is one of the most popular terms in the IT industry. But what exactly does the Pro label stand for? Manufacturers interpret it according to what suits them best.
The word Pro in a product name may indicate that a product is intended for professional use. A manufacturer can reinforce that label with additional support that it does not offer for “private” devices. That distinction is no longer so clear, as the Pro label may stick on any product, from budget smartphones to wireless earphones and watches. Even with laptops, Pro is not automatically synonymous with professional specifications.
The smallest leap forward in specifications is enough to justify the use of the term. A product that is “Pro” today tells you no more than that the device is a little better than a reference device chosen by the manufacturer. The specifications need not be impressive: add some extra memory or pixels in the screen and you have apparently already made a Pro device.
Superlative
For the most expensive devices, Pro has long since ceased to cover it. So the marketing teams need to get more creative. That’s why Apple and Dell still add Max to their top products; other manufacturers prefer the word Ultra. Qualcomm finds Elite most appropriate for its most expensive Snapdragon chip. As long as it sounds classy enough.
Grandiosity does not always have to be lived up to. Intel then does claim leadership by sticking Ultra on virtually all laptop and desktop processors since Meteor Lake. That applies to processors at the upper end of the spectrum as well as in the lower categories. The further down we sink into the portfolio, the less the specifications of the processors justify assigning that term.
read also
Intel claims AI leadership with launch of Core Ultra 200 CPUs without solid AI performance
Doesn’t even Ultra sound punishing enough? Then come up with your own words. AMD is rising to higher ground. The chip maker is inventing an entirely new superlative for its chips: Halo. That, according to AMD’s lexicon, is above Premium. Lenovo is also showing its creativity: no longer say ThinkPad, but ThinkPad Aura Edition.
Plus, Premium or Premium Plus?
Two more terms used lustily alongside and interchangeably are Plus and Premium. Simply put, this addition indicates that a model is a step up from a basic model, although you can also use Pro to make that distinction. In the context of software, Premium often refers to a paying subscription, although you will find Plus or even Plus Premium formulas at software companies as well.
It gets completely confusing when manufacturers create their own rankings. We refer again to Dell, which distinguishes between Base, Plus and Premium within its Pro and Pro Max categories. In Dell’s view, that hierarchy will make sense, but explain to a layman what the difference between Dell Premium and Dell Pro or between Dell Pro Premium and Dell Pro Max is.
When entry-level models fall under the Pro and/or Premium category, such terms lose all credibility.
AMD doesn’t do much better at making things simple for the uninitiated. The naming of AMD Ryzen processors has been a case in point for many years, but this year the chip maker is really making a mess of it. AMD now divides some of its chips into Max, Max Pro and Max+ Pro, living in the Halo segment. Below that you’ll find the Advanced and Premium segments with Ryzen AI (Pro). At the very least, Pro here does mean professional management capabilities integrated into the CPU.
A touch of AI
One final marketing term we are being flattened with today is AI. Every product must refer to the presence of artificial intelligence to compete. That includes products that do not need AI at all, or only to a very limited extent.
The MSI Cubi NUC mini-PC, for example, has more AI in the name than in the inside, unless you opt for the AI+ version, of course. Samsung’s claim that the M9 monitor has on device AI is even more dubious: the promised AI features only work in conjunction with a PC or via the cloud. So it turns out the Smart Monitor is not very smart. The specifications that do not involve AI are then often more relevant, but less exciting from a marketing point of view. With the Ryzen AI Max Plus Pro , AMD scores a full bingo card.
read also
Samsung pretends to put AI in a monitor
Every device must be given a name. Sometimes that name does say something about what to expect from the product, but often a product name contains unclear to even false promises. When entry-level devices fall into the Pro and/or Premium category, such terms lose all credibility. Don’t blindly take a manufacturer’s word for it and test claims thoroughly.