Compaq 171FS
A 17-inch CRT monitor from the leading PC supplier of the 1990s.
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Rod Canion, Jim Harris, and Bill Murto, each having previously held senior management roles at Texas Instruments, established the company.[1] Compaq was the second firm, after Columbia Data Products, to legally reverse-engineer the IBM Personal Computer's BIOS, thereby creating some of the earliest IBM PC compatible machines.[2]
How it changed
The Compaq 386 computer marked the first CPU change to the PC platform that was not initiated by IBM.[3] Under Pfeiffer's tenure as chief executive, Compaq entered the retail computer market with the Compaq Presario as one of the first manufacturers in the mid-1990s to market a sub-$1000 PC.[4] The Compaq Portable, a portable IBM PC compatible personal computer, was Compaq's first product, announced in November 1982.[5] Due to its dimensions and case appearance, the Compaq Portable was sometimes referred to as a "suitcase computer" and is considered a forerunner of the modern laptop.[5]
As the second IBM-compatible PC, it could execute any software that functioned on an IBM PC.[5] The LTE was the first notebook computer to achieve commercial success, thereby contributing to the growth of the emerging laptop industry.[6] Having been in third place in 1993, Compaq moved ahead of Apple Computer and also overtook IBM to become the leading PC manufacturer in 1994.[4] Dell surpassed Compaq as the world's top PC maker on two separate occasions: once in 1999 and again in 2001.[7]
What the maker and period sources say
The Entrepreneur.com profile of Rod Canion states that in 1981 he sketched out a plan for a portable IBM-compatible PC clone on a napkin in a Houston pie shop.[8] Canion's strategy made a point of keeping a wide spread between the wholesale price and the “suggested retail price” that Compaq published.[8] During the company’s first year in business, Compaq shipped more than 53,000 PCs and set its first of many U.S. business records with revenue topping $111 million.[8] Compaq became the youngest company ever to join the Fortune 500—just five years after it was founded.[8]
Under Canion’s firm hand, Compaq would become the industry’s technological leader.[8] On October 25, 1991, Compaq’s board of directors, led by Rosen, announced that Canion was being replaced as CEO by Compaq executive vice president and COO Eckhard Pfeiffer.[8]
References
- Wikipedia, "Compaq" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Compaq Names Michael Capellas Chairman", H41131.www4.hp.com; "Compaq Appoints Michael D. Capellas President and Chief Executive Officer", H41131.www4.hp.com (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Compaq" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Aboard the Columbia, By Bill Machrone, p. 451, Jun 1983, PC Mag.; "Compaq I Portable computer"; The Compaq computer is a full-function portable business computer that resembles the IBM PC in almost every way..., Byte review. . (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Compaq" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Howard, "386 Compatibility: What, Me Worry?", 1986-11-25, p. 141; Lewis, "THE EXECUTIVE COMPUTER; The Race to Market a 486 Machine", The New York Times, 1989-10-22 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Compaq" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: KIRKPATRICK, "FAST TIMES AT COMPAQ WITH ECKHARD PFEIFFER AT THE WHEEL, COMPAQ IS PASSING OTHER PC MAKERS. THE COMPANY RECENTLY HIT A SPEED BUMP--BUT THE FUTURE'S SO BRIGHT THE CEO HAS TO WEAR SHADES.", April 1, 1996; Zuckerman, "Compaq Computer Looks Back and Sees the Competition Gaining", The New York Times, June 16, 1997; Fisher, "COMPANY NEWS; Wide Range Of Price Cuts By Compaq", The New York Times, August 16, 1994; Schendler, "Paradise Lost: Apple's Quest for Life after Death", 1996-02-19 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Compaq" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: but not the only one (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Compaq" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lewis, "Compaq Does It Again", The New York Times, October 17, 1989, p. C8; Bridges, "Making a Difference", eWeek, March 1, 1999, p. 76; Thomke, "Managing Product and Service Department: Text and Cases", McGraw-Hill/Irwin, 2007, p. 59–82; Dell, "ThinkPad: A Different Shade of Blue", Sams Publishing, 2000, p. 75–78 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Compaq" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Rivkin, Jan W., and Porter, Michael E. Matching Dell, Harvard Business School Case 9-799-158, June 6, 1999.; "Dell becomes world's top PC maker", 2001-04-20; Dell Computer Corporation Online Case . Mhhe.com. Retrieved on 2016-06-10.; "Hewlett-Packard and Compaq Agree to Merge, Creating $87 Billion Global Technology Leader", Hewlett-Packard, September 3, 2001; "Hewlett-Packard in Deal to Buy Compaq for $25 Billion in Stock", The New York Times, 2001-09-04; Chris Ziegler, "'HP Compaq' branding to end next year, Compaq name will live on for 'basic en.wikipedia.org
- "Joseph R. "Rod" Canion", Entrepreneur.com, 2008-10-10. facts only, no text reused. entrepreneur.com
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Compaq (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
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Sources
Compiled from Wikipedia and the sources listed below. Text from Wikipedia is available under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is adapted from it.
- Wikipedia: Compaq (CC BY-SA 4.0).
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