Compaq |
Compaq was a personal computer company founded in 1982 by Rod Canion, Jim Harris (Compaq) and Bill Murto. During the 1980s Compaq produced some of the first IBM PC compatible computers at a low-cost. The term COMPAQ is an acronym for Compatibility and Quality . It existed as a standalone entity until 2002 when it was merged with Hewlett-Packard.
=History=
==1980s==
Compaq was founded in February 1982 by Rod Canion, Jim Harris (Compaq) and Bill Murto, three senior managers from semiconductor manufacturer Texas Instruments. Each invested $1,000 to form the company. Their first venture capital came from Ben Rosen and Sevin-Rosen partners. It is often told that the architecture of the original Compaq PC was first sketched out on a table napkin by the founders while dining in a Houston restaurant.
for $1 million. Numerous other companies soon followed their lead.
In 1985 Compaq released the Compaq Deskpro 286, a 16-bit desktop computer using an Intel 80286 microprocessor running at 6Mhz and capable of 7MB RAM, it was considerably faster than an IBM PC and was, like the Compaq Portable, also capable of running IBM software. It cost $2000 for the 40MB hard disk model. It was the first of the Compaq Deskpro line of computers.
business.
==1990s - Present==
In the early-1990s, Compaq entered the retail computer market with the Presario, and was one of the first manufacturers in the mid-1990s to market a sub-$1,000 PC. In order to maintain the prices it wanted, Compaq became the first first-tier computer manufacturer to utilize CPUs from AMD and Cyrix. The price war resulting from Compaq s actions ultimately drove numerous competitors, most notably IBM and Packard Bell, from the marketplace.
In 1997, Compaq bought Tandem Computers, known for their NonStop server line. This acquisition instantly gave Compaq a presence in the higher end business computing market. In 1998, Compaq acquired Digital Equipment Corporation, the leading company in the previous generation of computing during the 1970s and early 1980s. This acquisition made Compaq, at the time, the world s second largest computer maker in the world in terms of revenue.
In 2002, Compaq engaged in a merger with Hewlett-Packard. Numerous large HP shareholders, including Walter Hewlett, publicly opposed the deal. Michael Capellas, then Compaq CEO, left the company after a brief stint as President of HP. Carly Fiorina became the new CEO of HP and was in charge of the combined company. Fiorina helmed Compaq for nearly three years after Capellas left. During that time, HP laid off thousands of former Compaq employees, its stock price generally declined, profits did not perk up, and it continued to lose market share to Dell Inc.. Facing dismissal from a hostile Board of Directors, Fiorina opted to leave in February 2005 before the board could fire her. Many Compaq products were re-branded with the HP nameplate, while the Compaq brand remained on other product lines.
= Culture =
Two sports stadiums were named after the company:
= Competitors =
HP Compaq competes against other computer manufacturers including Alienware, Dell, Inc., Lenovo Group, Gateway, Inc., Sony and Toshiba among others. Originally the company competed against IBM, making affordable IBM PC compatibles often cheaper and faster than the IBM alternative.
=See also=
*Compaq portable series
= External links =
*[http://www.compaq.com/ Compaq official website]|
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