27 May, 2008 |

Commodore Systems

The majority of computer users may have never heard of the Commodore brand name. The Commodore was an 8 bit home PC released nearly 25 years ago. At that time the computer had better sound and graphics than anything on the market, including IBM and Apple. The Commodore 64 was commonly known as C 64 and has sold close to 30 million units in its lifespan. A remarkable achievement for a personal computer in the 1980's.

This was the first home PC which could be bought anywhere, unlike other computers at the time, that could only be bought in electronic stores. The success of the Commodore was partly due to the fact that the company made its own parts. This significantly reduced the costs making it a very affordable computer option.

Almost every type of Software was made for the C64 PC, including office applications, games and technical applications.

Despite it initial success, Commodore did face intense competition. The 1980's saw the evolution of the computer industry and many more brands became available.

In the US, Apple, IBM, Digital and Atari all competed for the same market. Commodore was able to maintain its grip on the American market for some time. Not because of its superior quality but because of the many flaws in the competitors - namely price and lack of available cheap parts. Most IBM and Apple brands cost early twice the price of a commodore and $1200 was a big sum in the 80s.

In the later years, Commodore started to offer more games on its machine and larger discounts. It started a price war which brought the prices of computer down. Although the demand for Commodore computer remained high up to the early 90s, better technology and more competitors had arrived on the market. The Commodore with its disk drive was rapidly becoming obsolete. In 1994, the company finally filed for bankruptcy.

Check out our selection of Commodore games.