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Commodore International (other names include Commodore International Limited) was an American home computer and electronics manufacturer founded by
Jack Tramiel Jack Tramiel ( ; born Idek Trzmiel; December 13, 1928 – April 8, 2012) was an American businessman and Holocaust survivor, best known for founding Commodore International. The Commodore PET, VIC-20 and Commodore 64 are some home comput ...
. Commodore International (CI), along with its subsidiary Commodore Business Machines (CBM), was a significant participant in the development of the
home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or many humans, and sometimes various companion animals. It is a fully or semi sheltered space and can have both interior and exterior aspects to it. H ...
personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...
industry in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s. The company developed and marketed the world's best-selling computer, the
Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...
(1982), and released its
Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...
computer line in July 1985. With quarterly sales ending 1983 of $ (equivalent to $ in ), Commodore was one of the world's largest
personal computer A personal computer (PC) is a multi-purpose microcomputer whose size, capabilities, and price make it feasible for individual use. Personal computers are intended to be operated directly by an end user, rather than by a computer expert or tec ...
manufacturers.


History


Founding and early years

Commodore co-founders
Jack Tramiel Jack Tramiel ( ; born Idek Trzmiel; December 13, 1928 – April 8, 2012) was an American businessman and Holocaust survivor, best known for founding Commodore International. The Commodore PET, VIC-20 and Commodore 64 are some home comput ...
and Manfred Kapp met in the early 1950s while both employed by the Ace Typewriter Repair Company in
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. In 1954, they formed a partnership to sell used and reconditioned typewriters and used their profits to purchase the Singer Typewriter Company. After acquiring a local dealership selling Everest adding machines, Tramiel convinced Everest to give him and Kapp exclusive Canadian rights to its products and established Everest Office Machines in
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in 1955. By 1958, the adding machine business was slowing, but Tramiel made a connection with an Everest agent in
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who alerted him to a business opportunity to import into Canada portable typewriters manufactured by a
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n company. On October 10, 1958, Tramiel and Kapp incorporated Commodore Portable Typewriter, Ltd. in Toronto to sell the imported typewriters. Commodore funded its operations through factoring over its first two years, but faced a continual cash crunch. To bolster the company's financial condition, Tramiel and Kapp sold a portion of the company to
Atlantic Acceptance Corporation Atlantic Acceptance Corporation, Ltd. was an Oakville, Ontario-based finance company. It collapsed in June 1965 in one of the biggest financial scandals in Canada at that time, with an estimated $65 million loss to investors. Background Atlantic ...
, one of Canada's largest financing companies, and Atlantic President C. Powell Morgan became chairman of Commodore. In 1962, the company went public on the
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, under the name of Commodore Business Machines (Canada), Ltd. With the financial backing of Atlantic Acceptance, Commodore expanded rapidly in the early 1960s. It purchased a factory in
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to manufacture its own typewriters, began distributing office furniture for a Canadian manufacturer, and sold Pearlsoud radio and stereo equipment. In 1965, it purchased the furniture company for which it served as the distributor and moved its headquarters to that company's facilities on Warden Avenue in the
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district of Toronto. That same year, the company made a deal with a Japanese manufacturer to produce adding machines for Commodore and purchased the office supply retailer Wilson Stationers to serve as an outlet for its typewriters. In 1965, Atlantic Acceptance collapsed when it failed to make a routine payment. A subsequent investigation by a royal commission revealed a massive fraud scheme in which the company falsified financial records to acquire loans funneled into a web of subsidiaries in which C. Powell Morgan held a personal stake. Morgan then either pocketed the money or invested it in a series of unsuccessful ventures. Commodore was one of the Atlantic subsidiaries directly implicated in this scheme, but the commission was unable to find any evidence of wrongdoing on the part of Tramiel or Kapp despite heavy suspicion. Nevertheless, the scandal left Commodore in a bad financial position because it had borrowed heavily from Atlantic to purchase Wilson, and the loan was called in. Due to the financial scandal, Tramiel could only secure a bridge loan by paying interest well above the prime rate and putting the German factory up as collateral. To extricate himself, Tramiel worked with a financier named
Irving Gould Irving Gould (1919–2004) was a Canadian businessman credited with both saving and sinking Commodore. Commodore was originally formed in Canada and initially produced mechanical typewriters and calculators. In 1965, Jack Tramiel, Commodore's foun ...
, who brokered a deal to sell Wilson Stationers to an American company. Commodore now owed Gould money and still did not have sufficient capital to meet its payments, so Tramiel sold 17.9% of the company to Gould in 1966 for $500,000. As part of the deal, Gould became the new chairman of the company. Through his Japanese contacts, Tramiel saw some of the first electronic calculators in the late 1960s and pivoted from adding machines to marketing calculators produced by companies like
Casio is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches. I ...
under the Commodore brand name. In 1969, Commodore began manufacturing its own electronic calculators. Commodore soon had a profitable calculator line and was one of the more popular brands in the early 1970s, producing both consumer as well as scientific/programmable calculators. However, in 1975,
Texas Instruments Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) is an American technology company headquartered in Dallas, Texas, that designs and manufactures semiconductors and various integrated circuits, which it sells to electronics designers and manufacturers globall ...
, the main supplier of calculator parts, entered the market directly and put out a line of machines priced at less than Commodore's cost for the parts. Commodore obtained an infusion of cash from Gould, which Tramiel used beginning in 1976 to purchase several second-source chip suppliers, including MOS Technology, Inc., in order to assure his supply. He agreed to buy MOS, which was having troubles of its own, only on the condition that its chip designer Chuck Peddle join Commodore directly as head of engineering. Through the 1970s, Commodore also produced numerous peripherals and consumer electronic products such as the Chessmate, a chess computer based around a MOS 6504 chip, released in 1978.


"Computers for the masses, not the classes"

Chuck Peddle Charles Ingerham Peddle (November 25, 1937 – December 15, 2019) was an American electrical engineer best known as the main designer of the MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, the single-board computer, and its successor, the Commodore PET per ...
convinced Jack Tramiel that calculators were already a dead end and that they should turn their attention to home computers. Peddle packaged his single-board computer design in a metal case, initially with a keyboard using calculator keys, later with a full-travel
QWERTY QWERTY () is a keyboard layout for Latin-script alphabets. The name comes from the order of the first six Computer keyboard keys#Types, keys on the top left letter row of the keyboard ( ). The QWERTY design is based on a layout created f ...
keyboard,
monochrome monitor A monochrome monitor is a type of computer monitor in which computer text and images are displayed in varying tones of only one color, as opposed to a color monitor that can display text and images in multiple colors. They were very common in t ...
, and
tape recorder An audio tape recorder, also known as a tape deck, tape player or tape machine or simply a tape recorder, is a sound recording and reproduction device that records and plays back sounds usually using magnetic tape for storage. In its present- ...
for program and data storage, to produce the
Commodore PET The Commodore PET is a line of personal computers produced starting in 1977 by Commodore International. A single all-in-one case combines a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, Commodore BASIC in read-only memory, keyboard, monochrome monitor, an ...
(Personal Electronic Transactor). From PET's 1977 debut, Commodore would be a computer company. Commodore had been reorganized the year before into Commodore International, Ltd., moving its financial headquarters to the
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and its operational headquarters to
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, near the MOS Technology site. The operational headquarters, where research and development of new products occurred, retained the name Commodore Business Machines, Inc. In 1980 Commodore launched production for the European market in
Braunschweig Braunschweig () or Brunswick ( , from Low German ''Brunswiek'' , Braunschweig dialect: ''Bronswiek'') is a city in Lower Saxony, Germany, north of the Harz Mountains at the farthest navigable point of the river Oker, which connects it to the Nor ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
. By 1980, Commodore was one of the three largest microcomputer companies and the largest in the
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. The company had lost its early domestic-market sales leadership, however; by mid-1981 its US market share was less than 5%, and US computer magazines rarely discussed Commodore products. ''BYTE'' stated of the business computer market that "the lack of a marketing strategy by Commodore, as well as its past nonchalant attitude toward the encouragement and development of good software, has hurt its credibility, especially in comparison to the other systems on the market". The author of ''Programming the PET/CBM'' (1982) stated in its introduction that "CBM's product manuals are widely recognized to be unhelpful; this is one of the reasons for the existence of this book." Commodore reemphasized the US market with the
VIC-20 The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the ...
. The PET computer line was used primarily in schools, where its tough all-metal construction and ability to share printers and disk drives on a simple
local area network A local area network (LAN) is a computer network that interconnects computers within a limited area such as a residence, school, laboratory, university campus or office building. By contrast, a wide area network (WAN) not only covers a larger ...
were advantages, but PETs did not compete well in the home setting where graphics and sound were important. This was addressed with the VIC-20 in 1981, which was introduced at a cost of and sold in retail stores. Commodore bought aggressive advertisements featuring
William Shatner William Shatner (born March 22, 1931) is a Canadian actor. In a career spanning seven decades, he is best known for his portrayal of James T. Kirk in the ''Star Trek'' franchise, from his 1965 debut as the captain of the starship USS Enterpri ...
asking consumers "Why buy just a video game?" The strategy worked and the VIC-20 became the first computer to ship more than one million units. A total of 2.5 million units were sold over the machine's lifetime and helped Commodore's sales to Canadian schools. In another promotion aimed at schools (and as a way of getting rid of old unsold inventory), some PET models labeled "Teacher's PET" were given away as part of a "buy 2 get 1 free" promotion. In 1982, Commodore introduced the
Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...
as the successor to the VIC-20. Thanks to a well-designed set of
chips ''CHiPs'' is an American crime drama television series created by Rick Rosner and originally aired on NBC from September 15, 1977, to May 1, 1983. It follows the lives of two motorcycle officers of the California Highway Patrol (CHP). The seri ...
designed by MOS Technology, the Commodore 64, (also referred to as C64), possessed remarkable sound and graphics for its time and is often credited with starting the computer
demo scene The demoscene is an international computer art subculture focused on producing demos: self-contained, sometimes extremely small, computer programs that produce audiovisual presentations. The purpose of a demo is to show off programming, visual ...
. Its price was high compared with that of the VIC-20, but it was still much less expensive than any other 64K computer on the market. Early C64 advertisements boasted, "You can't buy a better computer at twice the price." Australian adverts in the mid-1980s used a tune speaking the words "Are you keeping up with the Commodore? Because the Commodore is keeping up with you." In 1983, Tramiel decided to focus on market share and cut the price of the VIC-20 and C64 dramatically, starting what would be called the " home computer war". TI responded by cutting prices on its
TI-99/4A The TI-99/4 and TI-99/4A are home computers released by Texas Instruments in 1979 and 1981, respectively. Based on the Texas Instruments TMS9900 microprocessor originally used in minicomputers, the TI-99/4 was the first 16-bit home computer. ...
, which had been introduced in 1981. Soon there was an all-out price war involving Commodore, TI,
Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...
, and practically every vendor other than
Apple Computer Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, United States. Apple is the largest technology company by revenue (totaling in 2021) and, as of June 2022, is the world's biggest company b ...
. Commodore began selling the VIC-20 and C64 through mass-market retailers such as
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, in addition to traditional computer stores. By the end of this conflict, Commodore had shipped somewhere around 22 million C64s, making the C64 the best selling computer of all time. At the June 1983 Consumer Electronics Show, Commodore lowered the retail price of the 64 to , and stores sold it for as little as . At one point the company was selling as many computers as the rest of the industry combined. Its prices for the VIC-20 and 64 were $50 lower than Atari's prices for the 600XL and 800XL. Commodore's strategy was to, according to a spokesman, devote 50% of its efforts to the under- market, 30% on the market, and 20% on the over- market. Its vertical integration and Tramiel's focus on cost control helped Commodore do well during the price war, with in 1983 sales. Although the company and Tramiel's focus on cost cutting over product testing caused some hardware defects in the initial 64, some resolved in later iterations by early 1984,
Synapse Software Synapse Software Corporation (marketed as SynSoft in the UK) was an American video game development and publishing company founded in 1981 by Ihor Wolosenko and Ken Grant. It initially focused on the Atari 8-bit family, then later developed for th ...
—the largest provider of third-party Atari 8-bit software—received 65% of sales from the Commodore market, and Commodore sold almost three times as many computers as Atari that year. Despite its focus on the lower end of the market, Commodore's computers were also sold in upmarket department stores such as Harrods. The company also attracted several high-profile customers. In 1984, the company's British branch became the first manufacturer to receive a royal warrant for computer business systems.
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's
Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...
was another noted customer, with over 60 Commodore systems processing documentation, tracking equipment and employees, costing jobs, and ensuring the safety of hazardous waste.


Tramiel quits; the Amiga vs. ST battle

Commodore by early 1984 was the most successful home computer company, with more than in annual revenue and more than in net income while competitors had large losses. The company's revenue in the fourth calendar quarter of 1983 of more than doubled the of a year earlier. Although '' Creative Computing'' compared the company to "a well-armed battleship
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rules the micro waves" and threatened to destroy rivals like Atari and
Coleco Coleco Industries, Inc. was an American company founded in 1932 by Maurice Greenberg as The Connecticut Leather Company. It was a successful toy company in the 1980s, mass-producing versions of Cabbage Patch Kids dolls and its video game conso ...
, Commodore's board of directors were as impacted as anyone else by the price spiral and decided they wanted out. An internal power struggle resulted; in January 1984, Tramiel resigned due to intense disagreement with the chairman of the board,
Irving Gould Irving Gould (1919–2004) was a Canadian businessman credited with both saving and sinking Commodore. Commodore was originally formed in Canada and initially produced mechanical typewriters and calculators. In 1965, Jack Tramiel, Commodore's foun ...
. Gould replaced Tramiel with Marshall F. Smith, a steel executive who had no experience with computers or consumer marketing. Tramiel's departure at the moment of Commodore's greatest financial success surprised the industry; he founded a new company, Tramel Technology (spelled differently so people would pronounce it correctly), and hired away a number of Commodore engineers to begin work on a next-generation computer design. Now it was left to the remaining Commodore management to salvage the company's fortunes and plan for the future. It did so by buying a small startup company called
Amiga Corporation Amiga Corporation was a United States computer company formed in the early 1980s as Hi-Toro. It is most famous for having developed the Amiga computer, code named Lorraine. History In the early 1980s Jay Miner, along with other Atari staffe ...
in August 1984, for ( in cash and 550,000 in common shares) which became a subsidiary of Commodore, called Commodore-Amiga, Inc. Commodore brought this new
32-bit In computer architecture, 32-bit computing refers to computer systems with a processor, memory, and other major system components that operate on data in 32-bit units. Compared to smaller bit widths, 32-bit computers can perform large calculation ...
computer design (initially codenamed "Lorraine", later dubbed the
Amiga 1000 The Commodore Amiga 1000, also known as the A1000, is the first personal computer released by Commodore International in the Amiga line. It combines the 16/32-bit Motorola 68000 CPU which was powerful by 1985 standards with one of the most adv ...
) to market in the fall of 1985 for . But Tramiel had beaten Commodore to the punch. His design was 95% completed by June. In July 1984 he bought the consumer side of Atari Inc. from
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which allowed him to strike back and release the
Atari ST The Atari ST is a line of personal computers from Atari Corporation and the successor to the Atari 8-bit family. The initial model, the Atari 520ST, had limited release in April–June 1985 and was widely available in July. It was the first pers ...
earlier in 1985 for about . The Amiga chipset was already demonstrated at the CES in 1984, however the Atari ST was ready for retailers sooner. During development in 1981, Amiga had exhausted venture capital and was desperate for more financing. Jay Miner and company had approached former employer
Atari Atari () is a brand name that has been owned by several entities since its inception in 1972. It is currently owned by French publisher Atari SA through a subsidiary named Atari Interactive. The original Atari, Inc. (1972–1992), Atari, Inc., ...
, and the Warner-owned Atari had paid Amiga to continue development work. In return, Atari was to get one-year exclusive use of the design as a video game console. After one year, Atari would have the right to add a keyboard and market the complete Amiga computer. The Atari Museum has acquired the Atari-Amiga contract and Atari engineering logs revealing that the Atari Amiga was originally designated as the 1850XLD. As Atari was heavily involved with Disney at the time, it was later code-named "Mickey", and the 256K memory expansion board was codenamed "Minnie". The following year, Tramiel discovered that
Warner Communications Warner Media, LLC ( traded as WarnerMedia) was an American multinational mass media and entertainment conglomerate. It was headquartered at the 30 Hudson Yards complex in New York City, United States. It was originally established in 1972 by ...
wanted to sell Atari, which was rumored to be losing about a day. Interested in Atari's overseas manufacturing and worldwide distribution network for his new computer, he approached Atari and entered negotiations. After several on-again/off-again talks with Atari in May and June 1984, Tramiel had secured his funding and bought Atari's Consumer Division (which included the console and home computer departments) in July. As more execs and researchers left Commodore after the announcement to join up with Tramiel's new company Atari Corp., Commodore followed by filing lawsuits against four former engineers for theft of trade secrets in late July. This was intended, in effect, to bar Tramiel from releasing his new computer. One of Tramiel's first acts after forming Atari Corp. was to fire most of Atari's remaining staff, and to cancel almost all ongoing projects, in order to review their continued viability. In late July/early August, Tramiel representatives discovered the original Amiga contract from the previous fall. Seeing a chance to gain some leverage, Tramiel immediately used the contract to counter-sue Commodore through its new subsidiary, Amiga, on August 13. The Amiga crew, still suffering serious financial problems, had sought more monetary support from investors that entire spring. At around the same time that Tramiel was in negotiations with Atari, Amiga entered into discussions with Commodore. The discussions ultimately led to Commodore's intentions to purchase Amiga outright, which would (from Commodore's viewpoint) cancel any outstanding contracts including Atari Inc.'s. This "interpretation" is what Tramiel used to counter-sue, and sought damages and an injunction to bar Amiga (and effectively Commodore) from producing any resembling technology. This was an attempt to render Commodore's new acquisition (and the source for its next generation of computers) useless. The resulting court case lasted for several years, with both companies releasing their respective products. In the end, the Amiga computer outlasted the Atari.Jay Miner Throughout the life of the ST and Amiga platforms, a ferocious Atari-Commodore rivalry raged. While this rivalry was in many ways a holdover from the days when the Commodore 64 had first challenged the Atari 800 (among others) in a series of scathing television commercials, the events leading to the launch of the ST and Amiga only served to further alienate fans of each computer, who fought vitriolic
holy wars A religious war or a war of religion, sometimes also known as a holy war ( la, sanctum bellum), is a war which is primarily caused or justified by differences in religion. In the modern period, there are frequent debates over the extent to wh ...
on the question of which platform was superior. This was reflected in sales numbers for the two platforms until the release of the
Amiga 500 The Amiga 500, also known as the A500, is the first low-end version of the Amiga home computer. It contains the same Motorola 68000 as the Amiga 1000, as well as the same graphics and sound coprocessors, but is in a smaller case similar to th ...
in 1987, which led the Amiga sales to exceed the ST by about 1.5 to 1, despite reaching the market later. However, the battle was in vain, as neither platform captured a significant share of the world computer market and only the Apple Macintosh would survive the industry-wide shift to Microsoft Windows running on PC clones.


Demise

Adam Osborne Adam Osborne (March 6, 1939 – March 18, 2003) was a British author, book and software publisher, and computer designer who founded several companies in the United States and elsewhere. He introduced the Osborne 1, the first commercially su ...
stated in April 1981 that "the microcomputer industry abounds with horror stories describing the way Commodore treats its dealers and its customers." Many in the industry believed rumors in late 1983 that Commodore would discontinue the 64 despite its great success because they disliked the company's business practices, including poor treatment of dealers and introducing new computers incompatible with existing ones. One dealer said "It's too unsettling to be one of their dealers and not know where you stand with them." After Tramiel's departure, another journalist wrote that he "had never been able to establish very good relations with computer dealers ... computer retailers have accused Commodore of treating them as harshly as if they were suppliers or competitors, and as a result, many have become disenchanted with Commodore and dropped the product line". However, upon the 1987 introduction of the Amiga 2000, Commodore retreated from its earlier strategy of selling its computers to discount outlets and toy stores, and now favored authorized dealers. Software developers also disliked the company, with one stating that "Dealing with Commodore was like dealing with
Attila the Hun Attila (, ; ), frequently called Attila the Hun, was the ruler of the Huns from 434 until his death in March 453. He was also the leader of a tribal empire consisting of Huns, Ostrogoths, Alans, and Bulgars, among others, in Central and Ea ...
." At the 1987
Comdex COMDEX (an abbreviation of COMputer Dealers' EXhibition) was a computer expo trade show held in the Las Vegas Valley of Nevada, United States, each November from 1979 to 2003. It was one of the largest computer trade shows in the world, usually ...
, an informal ''
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'' survey found that none of the developers present planned to write for Commodore platforms. Although Comdex was oriented toward business computing, not Commodore's traditional consumer market, such a response did not bode well for Commodore's efforts to establish the Amiga as a business platform. Tramiel's successor Smith left the company in 1986, as did Smith's successor Thomas Rattigan in 1987 after a failed boardroom coup. The head of Blue Chip Electronics, a former Commodore employee, described his former employer as "a well-known revolving door". Commodore faced the problem, when marketing the Amiga, of still being seen as the company that made cheap computers like the 64 and VIC; the 64 remained the company's cash cow but its technology was aging. By the late 1980s, the personal computer market had become dominated by the IBM PC and
Apple Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and ...
platforms and Commodore's marketing efforts for the Amiga were less successful in breaking the new computer into this now-established market than its promotions for the 8-bit line had been in making Commodore the home computer leader. The company put effort into developing and promoting consumer products that would not be in demand for years, such as an
Amiga 500 The Amiga 500, also known as the A500, is the first low-end version of the Amiga home computer. It contains the same Motorola 68000 as the Amiga 1000, as well as the same graphics and sound coprocessors, but is in a smaller case similar to th ...
-based
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called
CDTV The CDTV (from Commodore Dynamic Total Vision, later treated as a backronym for Compact Disc Television) is a home multimedia entertainment and video game console – convertible into a full-fledged personal computer by the addition of optional ...
. As early as 1986, the mainstream press was predicting Commodore's demise, and in 1990 ''Computer Gaming World'' wrote of its "abysmal record of customer and technical support in the past". Nevertheless, as profits and the stock price began to slide, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer's'' Top 100 Businesses annual continued to list several Commodore executives among the highest-paid in the region and the paper documented the company's questionable hiring practices and large bonuses paid to executives amid shareholder discontent. Commodore failed to update the Amiga to keep pace as the PC platform advanced. CBM continued selling the
Amiga 2000 The Amiga 2000, or A2000, is a personal computer released by Commodore in March 1987. It was introduced as a "big box" expandable variant of the Amiga 1000 but quickly redesigned to share most of its electronic components with the contemporary Ami ...
with 7.14 MHz
68000 The Motorola 68000 (sometimes shortened to Motorola 68k or m68k and usually pronounced "sixty-eight-thousand") is a 16/32-bit complex instruction set computer (CISC) microprocessor, introduced in 1979 by Motorola Semiconductor Products Secto ...
CPUs, even though the Amiga 3000 with its 25 MHz
68030 The Motorola 68030 ("''sixty-eight-oh-thirty''") is a 32-bit microprocessor in the Motorola 68000 family. It was released in 1987. The 68030 was the successor to the Motorola 68020, and was followed by the Motorola 68040. In keeping with genera ...
was on the market. Apple by this time was using the
68040 The Motorola 68040 ("''sixty-eight-oh-forty''") is a 32-bit microprocessor in the Motorola 68000 series, released in 1990. It is the successor to the 68030 and is followed by the 68060, skipping the 68050. In keeping with general Motorola nami ...
and had relegated the 68000 to its lowest end model, the black and white
Macintosh Classic The Macintosh Classic is a personal computer designed, manufactured and sold by Apple Computer from October 1990 to September 1992. It was the first Macintosh to sell for less than US$1,000. Production of the Classic was prompted by the succe ...
. The 68000 was used in the
Sega Genesis The Sega Genesis, known as the outside North America, is a 16-bit Fourth generation of video game consoles, fourth generation home video game console developed and sold by Sega. It was Sega's third console and the successor to the Master Syst ...
, one of the leading
game consoles A video game console is an electronic device that outputs a video signal or image to display a video game that can be played with a game controller. These may be home consoles, which are generally placed in a permanent location connected to a ...
of the era, PCs fitted with high-color
VGA Video Graphics Array (VGA) is a video display controller and accompanying de facto graphics standard, first introduced with the IBM PS/2 line of computers in 1987, which became ubiquitous in the PC industry within three years. The term can no ...
graphics cards and
SoundBlaster Sound Blaster is a family of sound cards designed by Singaporean technology company Creative Technology (known in the US as Creative Labs). Sound Blaster sound cards were the de facto standard for consumer audio on the IBM PC compatible system pl ...
(or compatible)
sound card A sound card (also known as an audio card) is an internal expansion card that provides input and output of audio signals to and from a computer under the control of computer programs. The term ''sound card'' is also applied to external audio i ...
s had finally caught up with the Amiga's performance and Commodore began to fade from the consumer market. Although the Amiga was originally conceived as a gaming machine, Commodore had always emphasized the Amiga's potential for professional applications. But the Amiga's high-performance sound and graphics were irrelevant for most of the day's
MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...
-based routine business word-processing and data-processing requirements, and the machine could not successfully compete with PCs in a business market that was rapidly undergoing
commoditization In business literature, commoditization is defined as the process by which goods that have economic value and are distinguishable in terms of attributes (uniqueness or brand) end up becoming simple commodities in the eyes of the market or consum ...
. Commodore introduced a range of PC compatible systems designed by its German division, and while the Commodore name was better known in the US than some of its competition, the systems' price and specs were only average. In 1992, the A600 replaced the A500. It removed the numeric keypad, Zorro expansion slot, and other functionality, but added IDE, PCMCIA and a theoretically cost-reduced design. Designed as the Amiga 300, a nonexpandable model to sell for less than the
Amiga 500 The Amiga 500, also known as the A500, is the first low-end version of the Amiga home computer. It contains the same Motorola 68000 as the Amiga 1000, as well as the same graphics and sound coprocessors, but is in a smaller case similar to th ...
, the 600 was forced to become a replacement for the 500 due to the unexpected higher cost of manufacture. Productivity developers increasingly moved to PC and Macintosh, while the
console wars In the video game industry, a console war describes the competition between two or more video game console manufacturers in trying to achieve better consumer sales through more advanced console technology, an improved selection of video games, and ...
took over the gaming market. David Pleasance, managing director of Commodore UK, described the A600 as a 'complete and utter screw-up'. In 1992, Commodore released the Amiga 1200 and Amiga 4000 computers, which featured an improved graphics chipset, the
AGA Aga or AGA may refer to: Business * Architectural Glass and Aluminum (AGA), a glazing contractor, established in 1970 * AGA (automobile), ''Autogen Gasaccumulator AG'', 1920s German car company *AGA AB, ''Aktiebolaget Svenska Gasaccumulator'', a ...
. The advent of PC games using 3D graphics such as ''
Doom Doom is another name for damnation. Doom may also refer to: People * Doom (professional wrestling), the tag team of Ron Simmons and Butch Reed * Daniel Doom (born 1934), Belgian cyclist * Debbie Doom (born 1963), American softball pitcher * ...
'' and ''
Wolfenstein 3D ''Wolfenstein 3D'' is a first-person shooter video game developed by id Software and published by Apogee Software and FormGen. Originally released on May 5, 1992, for DOS, it was inspired by the 1981 Muse Software video game '' Castle Wolfe ...
'' spelled the end of Amiga as a gaming platform, due to mismanagement. In 1993, the 'make or break' system, according to Pleasance, was a 32-bit
CD-ROM A CD-ROM (, compact disc read-only memory) is a type of read-only memory consisting of a pre-pressed optical compact disc that contains data. Computers can read—but not write or erase—CD-ROMs. Some CDs, called enhanced CDs, hold both comput ...
-based game console called the
Amiga CD32 The Amiga CD32 (stylized as Amiga CD32, code-named "Spellbound") is a 32-bit home video game console developed by Commodore and released in Europe, Australia, Canada, and Brazil. It was first announced at the Science Museum in London on July 16, ...
, but it was not sufficiently profitable to put Commodore back in the black. This was not a universal opinion at Commodore with hardware expert Rainer Benda who worked for Commodore Germany in Frankfurt stating 'The CD32 was a year late for Commodore. In other words, here, too, it might have been better to focus on the core business than jump on a console and hope to sell 300,000 or more units in a short period of time to avoid bankruptcy. In 1992, all UK servicing and warranty repairs were outsourced to
Wang Laboratories Wang Laboratories was a US computer company founded in 1951 by An Wang and G. Y. Chu. The company was successively headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts (1954–1963), Tewksbury, Massachusetts (1963–1976), and finally in Lowell, Massachuset ...
, which was replaced by ICL after failing to meet repair demand during the Christmas rush in 1992. Commodore International's Canadian subsidiary authorized 3D Microcomputers of Ontario to manufacture IBM PC clones with the Commodore brand in late 1993. By 1994, only the operations in Canada,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
, and the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
were still profitable. Commodore announced voluntary bankruptcy
liquidation Liquidation is the process in accounting by which a company is brought to an end in Canada, United Kingdom, United States, Ireland, Australia, New Zealand, Italy, and many other countries. The assets and property of the company are redistrib ...
on May 6, 1994, causing the board of directors to "authorize the transfer of its assets to trustees for the benefit of its creditors", according to an official statement. With Commodore International having reported a quarterly loss in the US, hopes were expressed that the UK and European divisions might be able to continue trading and even survive the demise of the parent company, with a management buyout considered a possibility. Other possibilities included the sale of profitable parts of the company to other parties, with Philips and Samsung considered "likely choices". The company's computer systems, especially the C64 and Amiga series, retain a cult following decades after its demise.


Post–Commodore International Ltd.

Following its liquidation, Commodore's former assets went their separate ways, with none of the descendant companies repeating Commodore's early success. Both Commodore and Amiga product lines were produced in the 21st century, but separately with Amiga, Inc. being its own company and Commodore computers briefly being produced by Commodore USA, an unrelated Florida-based company that licensed the brand name. Other companies develop operating systems and manufacture computers for both Commodore and Amiga brands as well as software. Commodore UK and Commodore BV (Netherlands) were the subsidiaries that survived the bankruptcy but failed to place a bid to buy out the rest of the operation, or at least the former parent company. Due to press exposure at the time Commodore UK was considered the front runner in the bid. Commodore UK and Commodore BV (Netherlands) stayed in business by selling old inventory and making computer speakers and some other types of computer peripherals. Commodore BV (Netherlands) dissolved in early 1995, leaving Commodore UK left to make a bid. However, Commodore UK withdrew its bid at the start of the auction process after several larger companies, including
Gateway Computers Gateway, Inc., previously Gateway 2000, is an American computer hardware company. The company developed, manufactured, supported, and marketed a wide range of personal computers, computer monitors, servers, and computer accessories. It was acq ...
and
Dell Inc. Dell is an American based technology company. It develops, sells, repairs, and supports computers and related products and services. Dell is owned by its parent company, Dell Technologies. Dell sells personal computers (PCs), servers, data s ...
, became interested, primarily for Commodore's 47 patents relating to the Amiga. The only companies who entered bids were Dell and Escom. The successful bidder was
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
PC conglomerate Escom on April 22, 1995, beating Dell's bid by $6.6 million. Commodore UK went into liquidation on August 30, 1995. In 1995 Escom paid US$14 million for the assets of Commodore International. It separated the Commodore and Amiga operations into separate divisions and quickly started using the Commodore brand name on a line of PCs sold in
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
. However, it soon started losing money due to over-expansion, went bankrupt on July 15, 1996, and was liquidated. In September 1997, the Commodore brand name was acquired by Dutch computer maker
Tulip Computers Tulip Computers NV was a Dutch computer manufacturer that manufactured PC clones. History It was founded in 1979 as ''Compudata'', as an importer of American microcomputers. Compudata was the distributor for Europe for the Exidy Sorcerer, a ...
. In July 2004, Tulip announced a new series of products using the Commodore name: fPET, a flash memory-based USB Flash drive; mPET, a flash-based MP3 Player and digital recorder; eVIC, a 20 GB music player. Also, it licensed the Commodore trademark and Chicken Lips logo to the producers of the C64 DTV, a single-
chip Chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) is a type of immunoprecipitation experimental technique used to investigate the interaction between proteins and DNA in the cell. It aims to determine whether specific proteins are associated with specific genom ...
implementation of the
Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...
computer with 30 built-in games. In late 2004, Tulip sold the Commodore trademarks to Yeahronimo Media Ventures for €22 million. The sale was completed in March 2005 after months of negotiations. Yeahronimo Media Ventures soon renamed itself to ''Commodore International Corporation'' and started an operation intended to relaunch the Commodore brand. The company launched its ''Gravel'' line of products: personal multimedia players equipped with Wi-Fi, with the hope the Commodore brand would help them take off. The ''Gravel'' was never a success and was discontinued. On June 24, 2009, CIC renamed itself to Reunite Investments. CIC's founder, Ben van Wijhe, bought a Hong Kong-based company called Asiarim. The brand is now owned by C= Holdings (formerly Commodore International B.V.):Faillissements verslag Commodore Licensing B.V.
Reunite became the sole owner of it in 2010, after buying the remaining shares from the bankrupt Nedfield, then sold it to Commodore Licensing BV, a subsidiary of Asiarim, later in 2010. It was sold again on November 7, 2011: this transaction became the basis of a legal dispute between Asiarim (which, even after that date, made commercial use of the Commodore trademark, among others by advertising for sale Commodore-branded computers, and dealing licensing agreements for the trademarks) and the new owners, that was resolved by the
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York The United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (in case citations, S.D.N.Y.) is a federal trial court whose geographic jurisdiction encompasses eight counties of New York State. Two of these are in New York City: New ...
on December 16, 2013 in favour of the new owners. The Commodore Semiconductor Group (formerly MOS Technology, Inc.) was bought by its former management and in 1995, resumed operations under the name GMT Microelectronics, utilizing a troubled facility in Norristown, Pennsylvania that Commodore had closed in 1992. By 1999 it had $21 million in revenues and 183 employees. However, in 2001 the
United States Environmental Protection Agency The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is an independent executive agency of the United States federal government tasked with environmental protection matters. President Richard Nixon proposed the establishment of EPA on July 9, 1970; it be ...
shut the plant down. GMT ceased operations and was liquidated. Ownership of the remaining assets of Commodore International, including the copyrights and patents, and the Amiga trademarks, passed from Escom to U.S. PC clone maker
Gateway 2000 Gateway, Inc., previously Gateway 2000, is an American computer hardware company. The company developed, manufactured, supported, and marketed a wide range of personal computers, computer monitors, servers, and computer accessories. It was acq ...
in 1997, who retained the patents and sold the copyrights and trademarks, together with a license to use the patents, to Amiga, Inc., a Washington company founded, among others, by former Gateway subcontractors Bill McEwen and Fleecy Moss in 2000. On March 15, 2004, Amiga, Inc. announced that on April 23, 2003 it had transferred its rights over past and future versions of the Amiga OS (but not yet over other intellectual property) to Itec, LLC, later acquired by KMOS, Inc., a Delaware company. Shortly afterwards, on the basis of some loans and security agreements between Amiga, Inc. and Itec, LLC, the remaining intellectual property assets were also transferred from Amiga, Inc. to KMOS, Inc. On March 16, 2005, KMOS, Inc. announced that it had completed all registrations with the State of Delaware to change its corporate name to Amiga, Inc. The Commodore/Amiga copyrights were later sold to Cloanto.
AmigaOS AmigaOS is a family of proprietary native operating systems of the Amiga and AmigaOne personal computers. It was developed first by Commodore International and introduced with the launch of the first Amiga, the Amiga 1000, in 1985. Early versions ...
(as well as spin-offs
MorphOS MorphOS is an AmigaOS-like computer operating system (OS). It is a mixed proprietary and open source OS produced for the Pegasos PowerPC (PPC) processor based computer, PowerUP accelerator equipped Amiga computers, and a series of Freescale dev ...
and
AROS Aros may refer to: *Aros (Middle-earth), a river in J. R. R. Tolkien's Middle-earth legendarium * Aros, Mull, the location of Aros Castle, a ruined 13th-century castle on the Isle of Mull, Scotland *AROS Research Operating System, a free software i ...
) is still maintained and updated. Several companies produce related hardware and software today. Commodore's former US headquarters in West Chester, Pennsylvania, is currently the headquarters to
QVC QVC (short for "Quality Value Convenience") is an American free-to-air television network, and flagship shopping channel specializing in televised home shopping, owned by Qurate Retail Group. Founded in 1986 by Joseph Segel in West Chester, Pen ...
. In February 2017, an exhibition room for about 200 Commodore products was opened in Braunschweig, commemorating the European production site of Commodore which had up to 2000 employees.Braunschweiger Zeitung: ''Erinnerung an einen Konzern mit Weltruf'', February 17, 2017


Product line

This product line consists of original Commodore products.


Calculators

774D, 776M, 796M, 9R23, C108, C110, F4146R, F4902, MM3, Minuteman 6, P50, PR100, SR1800, SR4120D, SR4120R, SR4148D, SR4148R, SR4190R, SR4212, SR4912, SR4921RPN, SR5120D, SR5120R, SR5148D, SR5148R, SR5190R, SR59, SR7919, SR7949, SR9150R, SR9190R, US*3, US*8 and The Specialist series: M55 (The Mathematician), N60 (The Navigator), S61 (The Statistician).


6502-based computers

''(listed chronologically)'' *
KIM-1 The KIM-1, short for ''Keyboard Input Monitor'', is a small 6502-based single-board computer developed and produced by MOS Technology, Inc. and launched in 1976. It was very successful in that period, due to its low price (thanks to the inexp ...
single-board computer (1976); was produced by
MOS Technology MOS Technology, Inc. ("MOS" being short for Metal Oxide Semiconductor), later known as CSG (Commodore Semiconductor Group) and GMT Microelectronics, was a semiconductor design and fabrication company based in Audubon, Pennsylvania. It is mos ...
, which was bought by Commodore * Commodore PET/CBM range (1977) *
VIC-20 The VIC-20 (known as the VC-20 in Germany and the VIC-1001 in Japan) is an 8-bit home computer that was sold by Commodore Business Machines. The VIC-20 was announced in 1980, roughly three years after Commodore's first personal computer, the ...
a.k.a. VIC-1001 (1980 IC-1001– 1984) (CBM); *
Commodore CBM-II The Commodore CBM-II series is a short-lived range of 8-bit personal computers from Commodore Business Machines (CBM), released in 1982 and intended as a follow-on to the Commodore PET series. Technical description The CBM-II has two incarnat ...
range a.k.a. B-range a.k.a. 600/700 range (1982–1984) * Commodore MAX Machine Predecessor to C64 (1982) *
Commodore 64 The Commodore 64, also known as the C64, is an 8-bit home computer introduced in January 1982 by Commodore International (first shown at the Consumer Electronics Show, January 7–10, 1982, in Las Vegas). It has been listed in the Guinness ...
including C64C (1982–1994) * Commodore Educator 64 64 in a PET 40xx case (1983) *
Commodore SX-64 The Commodore SX-64, also known as the Executive 64, or VIP-64 in Europe, is a portable, briefcase/suitcase-size "luggable" version of the popular Commodore 64 home computer and the first full-color portable computer. The SX-64 features a b ...
all-in-one
portable Portable may refer to: General * Portable building, a manufactured structure that is built off site and moved in upon completion of site and utility work * Portable classroom, a temporary building installed on the grounds of a school to provide ...
C64 including screen and disk drive (1984–1986) *
Commodore 16 The Commodore 16 is a home computer made by Commodore International with a 6502-compatible 7501 or 8501 CPU, released in 1984 and intended to be an entry-level computer to replace the VIC-20. A cost-reduced version, the Commodore 116, was ...
including C116, incompatible with C64 (1984) *
Commodore Plus/4 The Commodore Plus/4 is a home computer released by Commodore International in 1984. The "Plus/4" name refers to the four-application ROM resident office suite (word processor, spreadsheet, database, and graphing); it was billed as "the produ ...
compatible with C16 (1984–1985) *
Commodore LCD The Commodore LCD (sometimes known in short as the CLCD) is an LCD-equipped laptop made by Commodore International. It was presented at the January 1985 Consumer Electronics Show, but never released. The CLCD was not directly compatible with ot ...
LCD-equipped laptop (never released) *
Commodore 128 The Commodore 128, also known as the C128, C-128, C= 128,The "C=" represents the graphical part of the logo. is the last 8-bit home computer that was commercially released by Commodore Business Machines (CBM). Introduced in January 1985 at the ...
including 128D and 128DCR (1985–1989) *
Commodore 65 The Commodore 65 (also known as the C64DX) is a prototype computer created at Commodore Business Machines in 1990–1991. It is an improved version of the Commodore 64, and it was meant to be backwards-compatible with the older comput ...
C64 successor (never released, an unofficial recreation was released as MEGA65) *
Commodore 900 The Commodore 900 (also known as the C900, Z-8000, and Z-Machine) was a prototype microcomputer originally intended for business computing and, later, as an affordable UNIX workstation. It was to replace the aging PET/ CBM families of personal com ...
workstation (never released)


Amiga Amiga is a family of personal computers introduced by Commodore in 1985. The original model is one of a number of mid-1980s computers with 16- or 32-bit processors, 256 KB or more of RAM, mouse-based GUIs, and significantly improved graphi ...

*
Amiga 1000 The Commodore Amiga 1000, also known as the A1000, is the first personal computer released by Commodore International in the Amiga line. It combines the 16/32-bit Motorola 68000 CPU which was powerful by 1985 standards with one of the most adv ...
(1985–1987) *
Amiga 500 The Amiga 500, also known as the A500, is the first low-end version of the Amiga home computer. It contains the same Motorola 68000 as the Amiga 1000, as well as the same graphics and sound coprocessors, but is in a smaller case similar to th ...
incl. A500+ (1987–1991) *
Amiga 2000 The Amiga 2000, or A2000, is a personal computer released by Commodore in March 1987. It was introduced as a "big box" expandable variant of the Amiga 1000 but quickly redesigned to share most of its electronic components with the contemporary Ami ...
incl. A2000HD (1987–1991) *
Amiga 2500 The Amiga 2000, or A2000, is a personal computer released by Commodore in March 1987. It was introduced as a "big box" expandable variant of the Amiga 1000 but quickly redesigned to share most of its electronic components with the contemporary A ...
(1988–1991) * Amiga 1500 (1987–1991) *
Commodore CDTV The CDTV (from Commodore Dynamic Total Vision, later treated as a backronym for Compact Disc Television) is a home multimedia entertainment and video game console – convertible into a full-fledged personal computer by the addition of optional ...
(1990) * Amiga 3000 incl. Amiga 3000UX & Amiga 3000T (1990–1992) *
Amiga 4000 The Commodore Amiga 4000, or A4000, is the successor of the A2000 and A3000 computers. There are two models: the A4000/040 released in October 1992 with a Motorola 68040 CPU, and the A4000/030 released in April 1993 with a Motorola 68EC030. ...
incl. A4000T (1992–1994) * Amiga 600 (1992–1993) *
Amiga 1200 The Amiga 1200, or A1200 (code-named " Channel Z"), is a personal computer in the Amiga computer family released by Commodore International, aimed at the home computer market. It was launched on October 21, 1992, at a base price of £399 in the ...
(1992–1994), rereleased by Escom (1995–1996)


x86 IBM PC compatibles

*
Commodore PC compatible systems The Commodore PC compatible systems are a range of IBM PC compatible personal computers introduced in 1984 by home computer manufacturer Commodore Business Machines. Incompatible with Commodore 64 and Amiga architectures, they were general ...
Commodore Colt, PC1, PC10, PC20, PC30, PC40, ..., (1987–1993) * Commodore PC laptops Commodore 286LT, 386SX-LT, 486SX-LTC, 486SX-LTF, (–1993) Pentium P120i Ultramedia, P166i Ultramedia and the P200i Ultramedia (1996–1997)


Game consoles

* Commodore TV Game 2000K/3000H (1975–1977) ( IT page, 1st-gen home consoles list) * Commodore MAX Machine predecessor to C64 (1982) *
Commodore 64 Games System The Commodore 64 Games System (often abbreviated C64GS) is the cartridge-based home video game console version of the popular Commodore 64 home computer. It was released in December 1990 by Commodore into a booming console market dominated by ...
(1990) *
Amiga CD32 The Amiga CD32 (stylized as Amiga CD32, code-named "Spellbound") is a 32-bit home video game console developed by Commodore and released in Europe, Australia, Canada, and Brazil. It was first announced at the Science Museum in London on July 16, ...
(1993)


Monitors

1000, 1024, 1070, 1080, 1081, 1083S, 1084, 1084S, 1084ST, 1085S, 1201, 1402, 1403, 1404, 1405, 1407, 1428, 1428x, 1432D, 1432V, 1701, 1702, 1703, 1801, 1802, 1803, 1900M/DM602, 1901/75BM13/M1, 1902, 1902A, 1930, 1930-II, 1930-III, 1934, 1935, 1936, 1936ALR, 1940, 1942, 1950, 1960, 1962, 2002, A2024, 2080, 76M13, CM-141, DM-14, DM602


Printers

;VIC 1520 plotter A somewhat rare and niche piece of equipment, it used the ALPS mechanicals, and four color rotary pen setup that scrolled a 4 1/4" roll paper. The ALPS mechanism was shared with a number of other 8 bit computers of the era, including Tandy, Atari and Apple among others.


Software

Commodore's own software had a poor reputation; ''InfoWorld'' in 1984, for example, stated that "so far, the normal standard for Commodore software is mediocrity". Third parties developed the vast majority of software for Commodore computers. *
AmigaOS AmigaOS is a family of proprietary native operating systems of the Amiga and AmigaOne personal computers. It was developed first by Commodore International and introduced with the launch of the first Amiga, the Amiga 1000, in 1985. Early versions ...
32-bit operating system for the Amiga range; multitasking, micro kernel, with GUI * Amiga Unix Operating system for the Amiga, based on
Unix System V Release 4 Unix System V (pronounced: "System Five") is one of the first commercial versions of the Unix operating system. It was originally developed by AT&T and first released in 1983. Four major versions of System V were released, numbered 1, 2, 3, an ...
*
Commodore BASIC Commodore BASIC, also known as PET BASIC or CBM-BASIC, is the dialect of the BASIC programming language used in Commodore International's 8-bit home computer line, stretching from the PET of 1977 to the C128 of 1985. The core is based on 6502 ...
BASIC interpreter for the 8-bit range, ROM resident; based on
Microsoft BASIC Microsoft BASIC is the foundation software product of the Microsoft company and evolved into a line of BASIC interpreters and compiler(s) adapted for many different microcomputers. It first appeared in 1975 as Altair BASIC, which was the first ...
*
Commodore DOS Commodore DOS, also known as CBM DOS, is the disk operating system used with Commodore's 8-bit computers. Unlike most other DOSes, which are loaded from disk into the computer's own RAM and executed there, CBM DOS is executed internally in the dr ...
Disk operating system for the 8-bit range; embedded in disk drive ROMs *
KERNAL KERNAL is Commodore's name for the ROM-resident operating system core in its 8-bit home computers; from the original PET of 1977, followed by the extended but strongly related versions used in its successors: the VIC-20, Commodore 64, Plus/4, ...
Core OS routines for the 8-bit range; ROM resident. *
Magic Desk Magic Desk was a planned series of productivity software by Commodore Business Machines for the Commodore 64. Only the first entry, Type and File, was ever released. It was introduced at the summer edition of the 1983 Consumer Electronics Show i ...
Planned series of productivity software for the C64; only the first entry was released *
Simons' BASIC Simons' BASIC is an BASIC extension, extension to Commodore BASIC, BASIC 2.0 for the Commodore 64 home computer. Written by British people, British programmer David Simons in 1983, who was 16 years old at the time, it was distributed by Commodore I ...
BASIC extension for the C64; cartridge-based * Super Expander BASIC and memory extension for the VIC-20; cartridge-based * Super Expander 64 BASIC extension for the C64


References


External links


Software Archive

The Canonical List of Commodore Products
– by Jim Brain, maintained by Bo Zimmerman
Philadelphia Inquirer articles about Irving Gould
{{Authority control American companies established in 1954 American companies disestablished in 1994 Defunct computer companies of the United States Defunct computer hardware companies Electronics companies of Canada Electronic calculator companies Home computer hardware companies Computer companies established in 1954 Electronics companies established in 1954 Technology companies established in 1954 Computer companies disestablished in 1994 Technology companies disestablished in 1994 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 1994 1954 establishments in Ontario 1994 disestablishments in Pennsylvania Defunct companies based in Pennsylvania West Chester, Pennsylvania Re-established companies Computer companies established in 2005 British Royal Warrant holders Canadian companies established in 1954