USB-IF is a forum of so many different companies the focus group probably was needed for CYA finger pointing if no other reason. If this branding doesn't work out they can blame a bad focus group and convene a new one rather than war among themselves.

Given the terrible product naming[1] most hardware companies[2] have, at this point I’ve just come to the conclusion that most people in command don’t have any idea of how other people behave and reason.

[1]: Sony WF-1000XM3 are AirPods competitors, but you’d never tell your friends about your Sony WF-1000XM3

[2]: Except Apple and a handful others

Sometimes I wonder if that's intentional. You won't suggest the WF-1000XM3, so you recommend "the Sony ones", and your friend goes to their preferred store where the XM3 is unavailable/out of stock and just orders some lower quality/older generation Sony ones rather than a competitor

But then that friend hates his earbuds and tells everyone how much Sony products suck. So in the end it hurts the brand. That's why having a small set of quality products with good names is best.

Sony has done a better job with other lines -- with Walkman, Discman, Vaio [Letter], PlayStation, Alpha, Aibo, and such. When they have a huge array of products, as with cameras or headphones, they soon become unnameable. They do have a set of headphone models called "LinkBuds" now, though. So they're not as clueless as you think.

> So they're not as clueless as you think.

One point for you, 34 for me:

https://electronics.sony.com/audio/headphones/c/all-headphon...

They still look pretty clueless to me.

if you're making design decisions based on HN comment threads instead of proper focus groups, you're going to end up with a very weird product.