Commodore to Buy Amiga (24th August 1984)

COMMODORE TO BUY AMIGA
(from the Austin American Statesman, late last week sometimes)

West Chester, Pa (AP) - Commodore International Ltd. says it agreed to acquire Amiga Corp., a small maker of microcomputers that rival
machines made by Apple Computer Inc.

Terms of the proposed purchase were not disclosed.

Amiga is a closely held firm based in Santa Clara, Calif. Commodore is the nation's leading producer of home computers.

Industry analysts said the acquisition would enable Commodore to introduce a personal computer with similar processing power and color
graphics capabilities as Apple's Macintosh, but that costs less.

Two months ago Amiga unveiled its Macintosh-like computer at a price of $1500, compared with the $2,495 pricetag for the Macintosh.

And last week Commodore's chief executive, Marshall Smith, said Commodore would soon introduce a small high-performance computer like
Macintosh for "well under $1,000."

The Amiga computer and Macintosh employ 32-bit microprocessors, meaning they can manage 32 pieces of data simultaneously. Most other
personal computers costing under $1,500 use less powerful 8 and 16-bit processors.

Besides giving Commodore a quick entry into the market for 32-bit computers, Commodore's announcement also was seen as a competitive
move against Atari Inc., another home-computer maker that was acquired in July by Commodore's former president, Jack Tramiel.

It had been widely reported that Tramiel also wants to market a Macintosh rival that sells for less than $1,500.