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Commodore International Dead

Commodore International
KindCompany
Founded1954
Defunct1994
StatusDead
FoundersJack Tramiel
FieldHome computers
Sourcebitsavers.org ↗

From typewriters to calculators to the PET, the VIC-20, the C64, and the Amiga — vertical integration's greatest home-computer run. Bankrupt in 1994; the brand outlived the company.

Created Commodore PET Commodore 64 Amiga 1000
Acquisitions Amiga Corporation

Jack Tramiel — Auschwitz survivor, typewriter repairman — built Commodore on 'computers for the masses, not the classes.' Owning MOS Technology let him build the PET (1977), VIC-20, and C64 at prices no rival could match; the C64 sold ~17 million, the best-selling computer model ever.

Tramiel quit in January 1984, bought Atari's consumer division, and waged price war on his old company. Commodore bought Amiga Corporation the same year, shipped the Amiga 1000, and slowly frittered the lead away — bankrupt April 1994.

Sources

  1. bitsavers.org/pdf/commodore/
  2. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Commodore_International