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Company Name: Commodore

Description: It was in 1955 that the Commodore International Limited was founded by Jack Tramiel. However, Tramiel didn’t have enough capital to solely fund the company, and so, C. Powell Morgan, then the head of the Atlantic Acceptance Company, took care for Commodore’s financial needs.

When Atlantic went bankrupt, Morgan was indicted and Commodore’s stock went to public in 1962. The company was then a manufacturer of typewriters and adding machines. Commodore’s financial problems were resolved when Tramiel gave up a portion of the company’s control to Irving Gould, who invested in the company in 1966.

Part of the sudden change in company’s leadership is its offered products. This time, Commodore offered its first pocket calculator using the Browmar LED display and the integrated circuit from Texas Instruments.

However, Texas Instruments also entered the market for electronic calculator, which gave a drastic blow on Commodore’s sales. But it was not yet the end for Commodore especially when it made a dramatic comeback with the 6502, which was designed by Chuck Peddle for MOS Technologies.

The continued success of Commodore helped it to purchase different companies that were responsible for its future success. MOS Technologies is among its acquired companies. Along with this, Commodore also purchased Frontier, a CMOS chips manufacturer, and the LCD maker, MDSA. These acquisitions that Commodore gained notably gave birth to its PET microcomputer in 1977.

To start its microcomputer industry, Commodore released two new calculator models, the Apple II and TRS-80. There was an increase in sales when the company offered a six-week computer delivery. More product releases followed that, including the PET 2001 series, Commodore Printers 2022 and 2023, and SuperPET.

Commodore did even better when it introduced the VIC-20. This was the first color microcomputer that was cheaper than $300. The demand for VIC-20 was astounding that the company’s production reached 9,000 units per day.

As testament to Commodore’s commercial success, Bally licensed Commodore in manufacturing its arcade games into cartridges fit for the VIC-20. Consequently, more demands for the Commodore microcomputers came. At the end of 1982, the company has already shipped about 750,000 units of microcomputers compared to only 600,000 of Apple II Computers.

Although Commodore is experiencing a historic success, its founder resigned in 1984. He was replaced by Marshall F. Smith. But Smith’s leadership did not prove to be fruitful for Commodore. The company was downsized and accumulated an enormous $339 million debt in 1985. The debt was paid but the company only made $1 million and suffered severe financial troubles.

Thomas J. Rattigan took over Smith as the CEO and cut down the payroll and decided to close three plants. This policy proved to be effective when Commodore garnered a profit of $28 million.

Rattigan was later replaced by Irving Gould. He also trimmed down the payroll and closed another five plants. However, this move never helped Commodore get back in shape. Subsequently, Commodore International, the once leader in microcomputers, was sold to ESCOM for about $10 to $12.5 million in 1996.

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