Company:Zeda Computers
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer |
| Fate | Dissolution |
| Founded | 1974 in Provo, Utah |
| Founder | John McMullen |
| Headquarters |
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Zeda Computers International Limited, trading as Zeda Computer Systems, was an American computer company based in Provo, Utah, and with overseas office in Nottingham. Founded in 1974, their best-selling computer was the Zeda 580, a Zilog Z80-based all-in-one microcomputer.
Corporate history
Zeda Computers International was founded in 1974 by John McMullen.[1][2] Beginning life as a electronics research and development laboratory, with few years later the company expanded to full-time production and marketing of computer systems and electronic word processors from within its 7,000-square-foot headquarters. Expansion was hastened after the company earned a contract to design a computer terminal and a data buffer system for a computer peripheral manufacturer out of San Jose, California, in the mid-1970s.[1][3] In 1976, the company established an overseas sales office in Nottingham.[4]
After Zeda released its first microcomputers in late 1977, the company's revenues soon rose to US$1.5 million. The company's Z80-based all-in-one, the Zeda 580, sold especially well and prompted Zeda's expansion into a 1,500-square-foot building adjacent to its Provo headquarters to where they moved their marketing department.[1][2][5] They released a companion dumb terminal, the Zeda 550, in December 1979, allowing two users to operate the computer at once with the computer's special operating system,[6] InfiNet.[7]
Zeda had by 1980 dealer networks in the Western United States, England, Australia, and the South Pacific.[2] That year's summer, the company earned two additional contracts from dealers in Portland, Oregon , and Rantoul, Illinois, to distribute $5.7 million worth of Zeda's 580 systems.[2][8] The computer topped $1 million in domestic sales in August 1981;[9] in the United Kingdom, the company topped GB£1 million in sales turnover in 1984. Its Brighton sales office staffed 40 that year.[4] The branch was commissioned by the Peterborough Building Society to transform the bank's Westgate branch into having a computerized open office floor plan.[10]
Products
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Staff writer (November 8, 1979). "Provo Computer Company Expands". The Daily Herald (Provo, Utah): 29. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117345450/provo-computer-company-expands/.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Staff writer (April 20, 1980). "2 Contracts Go to Provo Firm". The Daily Herald (Provo, Utah): 20. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117344996/2-contacts-go-to-provo-firm/.
- ↑ Staff writer (November 8, 1979). "Computer Firm Expands". The Salt Lake Tribune: 30. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117345524/computer-firm-expands/.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Brett, Clive (June 7, 1984). "Zeda's turnover tops a million". Evening Post (Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England): 11. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117345083/zedas-turnover-tops-a-million/.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Nadeau, Michael (2002). Collectible Microcomputers. Schiffer Book for Collectors (Illustrated ed.). Schiffer Publishing. p. 156. ISBN 9780764316005. https://books.google.com/books?id=WXZNAAAACAAJ.
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Staff writer (December 6, 1979). "Zeda Computers Open House Continues Until 7 Tonight". The Daily Herald (Provo, Utah): 21. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117345562/zeda-computers-open-house-continues/.
- ↑ Fox, Tom (January 1981). "Zeda". Interface Age (McPheters, Wolfe & Jones) 7 (1): 82. https://archive.org/details/InterfaceAge198201/page/n83/.
- ↑ Staff writer (April 26, 1980). "Area Business Tradewinds". The Salt Lake Tribune: 56. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117345532/area-business-tradewinds/.
- ↑ Staff writer (October 22, 1981). "Zeda Co. Announces Expansion". Orem-Geneva Times: 6. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117345466/zeda-co-announces-expansion/.
- ↑ Staff writer (March 8, 1984). "Computer gives personal touch". Evening Post (Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England): 11. https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117345147/computer-gives-personal-touch/.
- ↑ Staff writer (November 1978). "Video Computer Stands Alone, as Intelligent Terminal, or RJE Station". Computer Design 17 (11): 178. https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_computerDe_151795926/page/178/.
- ↑ Staff writer (April 12, 1978). "µC mainframe includes control panel". Electronic Design (Hayden Publishing) 26 (8): 150. https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_ElectronicignV26N0819780412_115831197/page/150/.
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