On August 12, 1981, the first IBM PCchanging computing forever. The mythical brand manufactured desktop and laptop computers until December 8, 2006when it sold its PC business to Lenovo. Why did you decide to leave the market?
IBM launched its first personal computer in 1975. It was made with its own components, focused on businesses, and cost $20,000 at the time. It was a lucrative business, but very limited.
In the late 70s and early 80s, home computers such as the Commodore 64, Apple II, MSX, and ZX Spectrum began to appear that, for just 200 euros at the time, allowed you to program and even run professional applications, such as spreadsheets and word processors.
This is how the IBM PC was born
It was a market that IBM was losing, so it decided to create a personal computer in record time. For this I would use components from other manufacturerssuch as an Intel processor, Tandon floppy disk reader, BASIC language and Microsoft’s IBM PC DOS system, etc.
He also chose to use an open architectureso that other manufacturers could produce and sell components, peripherals and compatible software without the need for licenses. It also offered a manual, the IBM PC Technical Reference Manualwhich included all the circuit schematics, the BIOS ROM source code, and all the engineering information for all the components.
This is how the IBM PC was born, after just one year of work, on August 12, 1981.. Without knowing it, IBM was revolutionizing computing and, at the same time, digging its own grave.
It was not a cheap computer, around $1,500 at the time, but it was a great success, especially among companies, because thanks to its open architecture without licenses, Dozens of peripherals quickly appeared, and hundreds of applications.
However, that open architecture and the revelation of all the schemes and circuits made it brands that manufactured clones of the IBM PC soon appeared. The only thing they couldn’t copy was the BIOS. With reverse engineering techniques (doing the same thing in another way), which are legal, brands such as Compaq, Phoenix, Award, or American Megatrends managed to replicate the BIOS. It was the only piece missing.
Starting in 1984, brands such as Dell, Compaq, and HP, and dozens of assemblers, began launching PC compatible computers. This compatibility was not always 100%, or the performance was worse, but they cost much less, so people bought them.
As computer historian David L. Farquhar tells on his blog, in the late 1980s PC manufacturers began to manufacture components in South Korea, Taiwan and China, to reduce costs. It was the beginning of Asia’s technological awakening.
IBM couldn’t compete, so it had to lower prices tooand with it profits. At that time it began to become a business services company.
Computers continued to be launched, such as the PS/2 range and the IBM Thinkpad laptops. But in the 1990s its PC division accumulated losses year after year. It only kept it because many of its services included an IBM PC, and companies bought the lot.
But losses cannot be endured indefinitely. On December 8, 2006, IBM sold its PC division to Lenovo.. In a way, the Chinese company has maintained that legacy, because it remains the sales leader in the PC market.
IBM abandoned the PC market almost 20 years ago. It has never gone away, because the PC is the most popular standard in computing. IBM invented it, and that is something that no one can take away from it.