AT&T and HTC: Everybody’s re-branding

AT&T Mobility announced that its Cingular 8525 Pocket PC (made by HTC Corp.) will henceforth be known as the AT&T 8525 Pocket PC. The operator said that the device has been upgraded, retaining the functionality it originally offered, while adding software upgrades to enable new services-upgrades also available to current owners of existing “Cingular 8525s,” according to the carrier.
The device is one of the first to carry AT&T’s brand over that of Cingular’s. AT&T, having acquired full ownership of Cingular when it acquired BellSouth Corp. earlier this year, is in the midst of a months-long effort to replace the Cingular brand with that of AT&T.
The first phone to replace Cingular’s brand with that of AT&T’s was the maroon Pearl from Research In Motion Ltd., released in March.
Interestingly, AT&T’s announcement followed HTC’s declaration yesterday that it would henceforth project its own brand in an effort at forging a globally recognized identity.
It was not immediately clear whether HTC will co-brand its products at the largest carrier in the United States, make an exception for AT&T, or-decidedly least likely-suddenly demand that carriers yield to its ambitions.