I would like to know the names of the top 10 personal computer
manufacturers in 1982 as determined by number of units shipped or sold
in that calendar year.

---

Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 11 Feb 2005 16:06 PST

Hello Jaustin,

I located a list of the top 10 personal computer manufacturers in 1982 for England.

This listing provides units shipped, installed base and sales in pounds.

Would this information be a satisfactory answer to your question?

Thanks,
Bobbie7

---

Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 11 Feb 2005 16:14 PST

The figures provided appear to be for one month and not the whole year.

---

Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 12 Feb 2005 06:04 PST

Jaustin,

Please check out the following resource.

Personal Computers from 1975-2004 - Market growth and market share
http://www.pegasus3d.com/total_share.html

Would this table meet your needs?  

If not, please let me know if the data that I have for England would
be more suitable for your requirements?

Thanks,
Bobbie7

---

Clarification of Question by jaustin-ga on 12 Feb 2005 20:32 PST

Bobbie7 -

Thank you for the remarkably fast work.  Unfortunately, those are all
close but not quite what I'm looking for.  I'm working on a speech and
wanted to use the names of the ten largest PC manufacturers to
demonstrate that most are gone and forgotten (and hopefully in the
process illustrate just how much has changed in the intervening 23
years).  Thus, the information I'm really looking for is probably
collapsed inside the columns "IBM & Clones" and "Other" in the
pegasus3d table.

Does that help?

Jon Austin

---

Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 13 Feb 2005 02:10 PST

Dear Jon,

What about the information about the 10 personal computer
manufacturers in 1982 for England I told you about previously?

This list includes the following manufacturers: Sinclair, Commodore,
Sirius, Acorn, Apple, Tandy, Osborne, Sharp, Atari and T.I.

I can provide you with a link to a table that states units shipped,
installed base and sales in pounds. This listing is taken from a 1982
English Microcomputer publication.

This list appears to demonstrate that a few of them are gone and forgotten.

Would this information be a satisfactory answer to your question?

Thanks,
Bobbie7

---

Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 13 Feb 2005 02:37 PST

Hello again Jon,


I located a list of defunct computer companies of the United States.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Defunct_computer_companies_of_the_United_States


I also found PDF documents from a wide variety of now defunct computer
manufacturers
http://heristal.blogspot.com/2004/09/bit-savers-pdf-archive.html

Click on name of company to download document.
http://bitsavers.org/pdf/

Could you please clarify if any of the above resources would meet your needs?

Thanks,
Bobbie7

---

Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 13 Feb 2005 07:50 PST

Jon,

I also found a January 1983 Time Magazine report that states that the
hottest selling hardware of 1982 included:

Timex Sinclair 1000 ($99) 
Commodore VIC-20 ($299) 
Atari 400 and 800 ($299 and $899) 
TI-99/4A ($450) 
Epson HX-20 ($795) 
TRS-80 Model III ($999) 
Apple II Plus ($1330) 
IBM PC ($1565) 
Osborne I ($1795) 

This seems to be the information  that you're looking for according to
your question  "...the names of the top 10 personal computer
manufacturers in 1982 as determined by number of units shipped or sold
in that calendar year."

I can provide a link to the information if you want.

I am looking forward to your comments.

Bobbie7

---

Clarification of Question by jaustin-ga on 13 Feb 2005 09:58 PST

Bobbie7 -

Thank you for keeping on this.  I'm a little leery of the English data
because I'm not sure how it relates to the world market or the US
(speech is to a US audience so either US or worldwide data would work
best).

I think the Time Magazine data might work if we assume "hottest
selling" means most units shipped.  Can you provide the entire
article?

Jon Austin

---

Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 13 Feb 2005 10:07 PST

Dear Jon,

I can provide a link to the abstract of the article. The full text of
this article is available to read online for $2.50.

Shall I post this information as the official answer to your question?

Thanks,
Bobbie7

---

Request for Question Clarification by bobbie7-ga on 13 Feb 2005 10:42 PST

Jon,

In addition to the previous Time Magazine article that I mentioned tht
costs $2.50, there is another Time Magazine article from January 1983
available. This article is free and I can provide you with a link to
the full text of the article.

Here is the relevant excerpt that may be useful for your speech:

At the moment, Dataquest estimates that Texas Instruments leads the
low-price parade with a 35% share of the market in computers selling
for less than $1,000. Next come Timex (26%), Commodore (15%) and Atari
(13%). In the race among machines priced between $1,000 and $5,000,
Apple still commands 26% followed by IBM (17% and Tandy/Radio Shack
(10%).

Let me know what you think.

Thanks,
Bobbie7

---

Clarification of Question by jaustin-ga on 13 Feb 2005 14:00 PST

Bobbie7 -

I think we've got it.  Please pull it together with the links and post
it as the official answer.  Thank you!

Jon Austin

Dear Jon,


I will repost all the information below with the relevant links.


======================
Time Magazine Articles
======================

Time Magazine: January 3, 1983
Machine of the Year
The Computer Moves In
By the millions, it is beeping its way into offices, schools and homes 
By Otto Friedrich. 
Reported by Michael Mortiz/San Francisco, J. Madeleine Nash/Chicago
and Peter Stoler/New York

Excerpt:

?At the moment, Dataquest estimates that Texas Instruments leads the
low-price parade with a 35% share of the market in computers selling
for less than $1,000. Next come Timex (26%), Commodore (15%) and Atari
(13%). In the race among machines priced between $1,000 and $5,000,
Apple still commands 26% followed by IBM (17% and Tandy/Radio Shack
(10%). ?

Here is the link to the full text of the article:

http://ei.cs.vt.edu/~history/Time.MOTY.1982.html


---------------------------------------------------------------


Machine Of The Year
The Hottest-Selling Hardware
Jan. 3, 1983 
By PHILIP FAFLICK

Abstract:

?A guide to the desktops, at prices from $99 to five figuresChoosing a
computer, like selecting a spouse, can be a daunting undertaking.
Hundreds of nearly identical models are out there, the packaging can
be misleading, and once you make a choice, you are stuck with the
family it comes with. The machines listed here, bestsellers in their
price ranges, have attracted the largest communities of users,
dealers, suppliers, programmers, publishers and writers. In most
cases, the manufacturer's list price buys just the computer; a
complete system can cost two or three times as much.Under
$1,000Timex.?

The complete article is 1064 words long

http://www.time.com/time/archive/preview/0,10987,953637,00.html

The full text of this article is available to read online for $2.50.

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/buylink/A/0,11397,953637,00.html


--------------------------------

This article is discussed below:

Philip Faflick and Robert T. Grieves of Time Magazine report that the
hottest selling hardware of 1982 included:

Timex Sinclair 1000 ($99) 
Commodore VIC-20 ($299) 
Atari 400 and 800 ($299 and $899) 
TI-99/4A ($450) 
Epson HX-20 ($795) 
TRS-80 Model III ($999) 
Apple II Plus ($1330) 
IBM PC ($1565) 
Osborne I ($1795) 

http://www.ti99ers.org/timeline/time1982.htm




==========================================================
Top 10 personal computer manufacturers in 1982 for England
==========================================================

This listing provides units shipped, installed base and sales in pounds.
The following information was taken from the Aug. '82 issue of
MICROCOMPUTER PRINTOUT Magazine, an English publication which once
specialized in the Pet but has recently broadened their coverage.

 MAKE           U/W        I.B.    SALES/MONTH

 Commodore     6,700      95,000     2,600,000
 Sinclair     20,000     300,000     1,600,000
 Sirius          500       1,500     1,220,000
 Acorn         3,500      18,000     1,150,000
 Apple         1,100      30,000     1,000,000
 Tandy           950      24,000       760,000
 Osborne         450       1,000       420,000
 Sharp         1,400      13,500       304,000
 Atari           475       5,000       130,000
 T.I.            200       3,000        35,000

"Sirius is Chuck Peddle's 8088 machine, marketed in the U.S. under the
Victor label (see Aug. '82 BYTE, p.281). Sinclair and Acorn are
English makes; Sharp is the only Japanese machine listed. The Japanese
are taking over the personal computer market VERY SLOWLY! (We even
remember when it was TI that was going to take over.)"

"U/M is units shipped in England per month, I.B. is the installed
base. SALES/MONTH is in pounds."

Source:
DTACK GROUNDED #12 
August 1982 
DTACK GROUNDED, The Journal of Simple 68000 Systems 
Issue # 12 August 1982 Copyright Digital Acoustics, Inc
http://linux.monroeccc.edu/~paulrsm/dg/dg12.htm


---------------------------------------------------------


Personal Computers from1975-2004 - Market growth and market share
http://www.pegasus3d.com/total_share.html



---------------------------------------------------------

List of defunct computer companies of the United States
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Defunct_computer_companies_of_the_United_States


PDF documents from a wide variety of now defunct computer manufacturers
Click on name of company to download document.
http://bitsavers.org/pdf/


---------------------------------------------------------


There is also a great deal of information at the following website:

History of Microcomputers 1981-1983
http://www.fortunecity.com/marina/reach/435/comphis4.html

Example:

1982: In the first 8 months since its introduction, 11,000 Osborne 1
computers ship.

September, 1983: Osborne Computer Corp. files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection

---------------------------------------------------------


Thank you for your question and I hope this response has provided you
with relevant information for your speech.


Best Regards,
Bobbie7

Wonderful responsiveness, excellent scope of response, great
documentation.  Thank you!

Dear Jon,

Thank you very much for thekind words, five star rating and very generous tip!

Sincerely,
Bobbie7