Tandy Corporation, Part 3 Becoming IBM Compatible

Summary

This article follows Part 1 of the Tandy Corporation’s history, which covers the company’s founding and the lead up to and launch of the TRS-80, and Part 2, which covers the TRS-80 Models I, II, III, CoCo, and Pocket Computer.When the TRS-80 Model I was released in 1977, the microcomputer market was small, centered around hobbyists, and many computer owners had built their machines from off-the-shelf components and/or kits. Tandy, Apple, and Commodore completely changed the market, but even their earliest customers had been hobbyists. After the release of VisiCalc, the market changed. Office workers, small business owners, people with complex finances, these all had VisiCalc as reason enough to own a computer. With WordStar, dBase, and CP/M, a new software standard had emerged, and sales increased further still. Oddly for Tandy, that VisiCalc was released first on the Apple ][ caused them an initial market share loss while overall increasing the size of the market over time and thereby having an overall positive effect on Tandy’s sales.In 1980, Philip North promoted John Roach to the position of COO, and in 1981, Roach became CEO. At the start of 1981 as Roach was taking control of the company, Tandy’s market position was excellent, with TIME Magazine having stated on the 2nd of March:In 1981 about 75% of the personal computer industry’s estimated $1 billion in sales will be controlled by just three companies. They are:Tandy. The Fort Worth-based Tandy Corp. has the broadest reach of any computer manufacturer through its 8,012 Radio Shack stores. The firm introduced its first small computer, the TRS-80, in 1977. A newer version of the the TRS-80 (popular models now cost $999) has become the largest-selling computer of all time, and Tandy now commands 40% of the small-computer market. Tandy recently introduced the first pocket computer, which shows only one line of information and sells for $249.Apple. The story of Apple Computer has by now become part of American fo...