Influence of The IBM PC On The Personal Computer Market - Before The IBM PC's Introduction

Before The IBM PC's Introduction

Before the IBM PC was introduced, the personal computer market was dominated by systems using the 6502 and Z80 8-bit microprocessors, such as the TRS 80 and Apple II series, which used proprietary operating systems, and by computers running CP/M. After IBM introduced the IBM PC, it was not until 1984 that IBM PC and clones became the dominant computers.

Around 1978, several 16-bit CPUs became available. Examples included the Data General Mn601, Fairchild's 9440, the Ferranti F100-1, the General Instrument CP1600 and CP1610, the National Semiconductor INS8900, Panafacom's MN1610, Texas Instruments' TMS9900, and, most notably, the Intel 8086. These new processors were expensive to incorporate in personal computers, as they used a 16-bit data bus and needed rare (and thus expensive) 16-bit peripheral and support chips.

More than 50 new business-oriented personal computer systems came on the market in the year before IBM released the IBM PC. Very few of them used a 16- or 32-bit microprocessor, as 8-bit systems were generally believed by the vendors to be perfectly adequate, and the Intel 8086 was too expensive to use.

Some of the main manufacturers selling 8-bit business systems during this period were

• Apple Computer Inc.
• Commodore International
• Cromemco
• Digital Equipment Corporation
• Hewlett-Packard
• Intersystems
• Morrow Designs
• North Star Computers
• Ohio Scientific
• Olivetti
• Processor Technology
• Sharp
• South West Technical Products Corporation
• Tandy Corporation
• Zenith/Heathkit.