Apricot Computers: an underrated British brand
Article excerpt
David L. Farquhar clearly notes that Sinclair and Amstrad and Acorn are well known vintage computers. But when it comes to British brands, it seems like one that you don’t hear a lot about Apricot. But thanks to a television program that aired in early 1990, we know a fair bit about Apricot’s triumphs and […]
David L. Farquhar clearly notes that Sinclair and Amstrad and Acorn are well known vintage computers. But when it comes to British brands, it seems like one that you don’t hear a lot about Apricot.
But thanks to a television program that aired in early 1990, we know a fair bit about Apricot’s triumphs and struggles in the highly competitive PC market of the 1980s and 90s. It was on June 30, 1999 that Apricot closed its factory in Scotland and wound down its brand.
Apricot was an interesting computer company. They were the first company to ship a 486-based PC in 1989. Arguably that’s not quite as noteworthy as being the first to ship a 386-based PC, but they still beat all the big names in shipping a 486, including Compaq and IBM.
Apricot was also noteworthy in licensing Microchannel from IBM. While Tandy and Dell announced Microchannel PCs, Apricot actually shipped them in quantity and stuck with the architecture for several years, selling them alongside conventional AT designs rather than choosing one or the other.
And Apricot was interesting in that they bucked outsourcing design and manufacturing to Asia longer than many PC makers did. They designed their PCs in Birmingham, England, and manufactured them in Glenrothes, Scotland.
Check out Dave’s full research in the article here.