Listeners of this week’s PC Pro podcast will know that we devoted a good few minutes to the seemingly trivial topic of PC stickers – those “Intel Inside” or “Powered by Windows” labels that are cemented to the wrist rest of the average laptop.

The conversation was triggered by my spontaneous thought that one of the reasons AMD might only now have decided to ditch the ATI brand was because it could suddenly get away with slapping AMD stickers on new laptops.

Let me explain: companies such as Intel and Microsoft pay PC manufacturers to have those stubborn little stickers welded to their machines. It struck me that the big, bad Intel of yesteryear – the one that was paying PC manufacturers to ignore AMD processors – wouldn’t have been too chuffed to see AMD stickers appearing alongside its own, and may have threatened to pull those payments if PC manufacturers sidled up to the enemy. (I stress this is merely a theory; I have no evidence that Intel ever threatened to do anything of the sort. But it wouldn’t be entirely out of character.)

ATI stickers, on the other hand, have been a fixture on PCs for years and Intel was much less likely to kick up a fuss about them. So one of the reasons AMD might have decided to persist with the ATI brand was to retain its sticker space on laptops with Intel processors and ATI graphics.

Now that authorities on both sides of the Atlantic have rapped a ruler across Intel’s knuckles for such anti-competitive behaviour, however, AMD may well have concluded that it had nothing to lose by rebranding the graphics business. That was my theory and I was (if you excuse the pun) sticking with it.

At least until today, when I read a blog post by David Pogue of the New York Times, who claims AMD isn’t very keen on the whole sticker idea at all. Pogue says that next year AMD will switch to stickers that peel off easily, unlike the blow-torch resistant blighters that are used today. AMD might even phase them out completely.

Pogue applauds AMD “for taking the lead in trying to change this pointless, tacky practice”. While I’m no keener on those horrible little stickers than he is, I’m not so sure AMD’s gesture is as altruistic as Pogue claims.

Those stickers certainly aren’t “pointless”: seeing that Intel logo every time you flip open your laptop is enormously powerful brand reinforcement. When consumers go into PC World and buy their next laptop which one are they more likely to choose? The one with the processor brand name they recognise or the one they’ve never heard of?

I suspect the reason AMD’s suddenly keen to peel off its stickers is because it can’t afford to match Intel’s marketing budget, and is trying to generate some positive PR by appealing to people’s taste. I’m sure Intel isn’t going to give up so easily.

Who’d have thought stickers would have become such a talking point?