PC-8000 series


The PC-8000 series is a line of personal computers developed for the Japanese market by NEC. The PC-8001 model was also sold in the United States and Canada as the PC-8001A.
Original models of the NEC PC-8001B was also sold in some European countries like in the UK, France, Spain, Italy and the Netherlands and in Australia and New Zealand as well.

PC-8001

The first member of the PC-8000 series, the PC-8001 was first introduced on May 9, 1979, and went on sale September 1979 for ¥168,000. Its design combined the keyboard and the mainboard into a single unit. At a time when most micro-computers were sold as "semi-kits" requiring end user assembly, the fully assembled PC-8001 was a rarity in the market. Peripherals included a printer, a cassette tape storage unit, and a CRT interface. Although it is often believed to be the first domestically produced personal computer for the Japanese market, in reality it was preceded by the Hitachi Basic Master.
The PC-8001A was released in the United States in August 1981, and was priced at . It was modified to reduce electromagnetic interference in order to comply with FCC regulations. The Katakana glyphs in the character ROM were replaced with English.

Specification

In Japan, Nippon Electric's Microcomputer Sales section in the Electronic Device Sales division released the TK-80 in 1976, a single-board computer kit, and it became popular among hobbyists. American personal computers were expensive for personal use. In addition, computer manufacturers had not developed personal computers because they assumed that the microprocessors of the time were not suitable for computing due to their lack of performance and reliability. In 1978, the Hitachi Basic Master and Sharp MZ-80K, both developed by consumer electronics companies, were released as personal computers targeted for hobbyists, not for business use.
In the summer of 1978, NEC started the development of the PC-8001, codenamed "PCX-1". The development team consisted of 10 engineers including section manager Kazuya Watanabe and chief designer Tomio Gotō. They had already planned to release a version of the TK-80BS within a plastic case as a personal computer. It was released as the COMPO BS/80, but it failed in the market due to its poor built-in BASIC and slow clock speed. The PC-8001 was intended to be a high-performance and inexpensive computer for personal use.
When Goto visited Silicon Valley to survey the application of microprocessors, he ran across Kazuhiko Nishi at a computer store. They only exchanged business cards, but Nishi introduced Microsoft to him after he returned to Japan. Goto thought of visiting Microsoft, but he worried that the trip wouldn't be accepted by his boss because Microsoft was a small company. Instead, he attended the fall 1978 West Coast Computer Faire during its first day. The next day, he met Bill Gates at the airport in Albuquerque. After lunch, they went to Microsoft's office, and then Gates told him the importance of having a de facto standard. Goto agreed.
The team had already been developing a BASIC interpreter, but Watanabe decided to adopt Microsoft BASIC because it was widely used in the North American market. At that time, Microsoft and ASCII intended to expand OEM business in Japan, so N-BASIC was provided for NEC with a very low licence fee. It had been developed at Microsoft's office in Seattle, and NEC provided a wirewrapped prototype, known as the PC-8001g.
The system unit, displays and storage devices were all developed by NEC, and manufactured by New Nippon Electric beginning in January 1980. Printers were provided from Tokyo Electric because NEC had only developed expensive printers for mainframes.

Success in Japan

The PC-8001 was introduced on May 9, 1979, and the prototype was presented to the public at the Microcomputer Show '79 held from May 16-19 at the Tokyo Ryūtsū Center. Soon after the exposition, NEC received thousands of orders. It took half a year to ship about 10,000 backorders after shipment began on September 20, 1979. By 1981, it dominated 40% of the Japanese personal computer market. About 250,000 units were shipped until production stopped in January 1983. NEC also succeeded in expanding their personal computer chain in Japan. The chain owned 7 stores in 1979, 15 stores in 1980, more than 100 stores in 1981, and reached 200 stores by 1983.
The PC-8001 sold well in the educational market because NEC advertised that the PC-8001 used the industrial standard of Microsoft BASIC. Kanagawa Prefectural Chigasaki Nishihama High School was the first futsu-ka school to purchase PC-8001 computers and started teaching programming as an elective subject in 1981. In April 1982, NHK Educational TV started the television program "Interest course 'Introduction to Microcomputers'" using the PC-8001. Its textbook "Introduction to Microcomputers - the first half of Showa 57" sold 700,000 copies.

PC-8001mkII

A higher-performance, more graphically capable revision of the PC-8001, the Mark II debuted in March 1983 for a price of 123,000 yen.
While its most obvious improvement was in its graphical capabilities, the Mark II also included an internal 5.25" floppy disk interface as well as two internal expansion slots, doing away with the need for an "expansion box" to permit upgrades. The internal BASIC was changed as well, from the 24KB N-BASIC to a 32KB "N80-BASIC" that added new conditional statements as well as graphics commands.
While the price of the PC-8001mkII was comparable with other 8-bit computer offerings at the time, its graphics were notably worse than its competitors. This led to a relative dearth of software produced for it, particularly games.

PC-8001mkIISR

A games-oriented revision of the PC-8001mkII with significantly better graphics and sound, making its debut in January 1985 for 108,000 yen.
The mkIISR increased the frame-buffer memory from 16KB to 48KB, allowing for 640×200-pixel graphics or 320×200-pixel double-buffered graphics modes. Additionally, the primitive PC speaker was replaced by an FM synthesis audio system. Its internal BASIC was also updated to allow usage of this new hardware, as well as providing mkII and PC-8001 compatibility modes. Other changes included the change of one general-purpose expansion slot to a Kanji character ROM expansion slot, a PC-8800 series keyboard connector, and an Atari-style joystick connector.

Reception

The Japanese personal computer magazine ASCII concluded in 1979 that "Although some problems remain, at present, we can guarantee it is the strongest machine for both software and hardware."
Morichika Sawanobori, the division manager of NEC's Electronic Device Sales division, recalled why the PC-8001 became a long seller that "The biggest factor is the price setting of 168,000 yen. The major opinion insisted 220,000 to 230,000 yen was appropriate for value of the product, but Kazuya Watanabe never withdrew 168,000 yen. After all, Watanabe's proposal was accepted by the executive director Ouchi's decision, but his stubbornness was admirable."
Although handicapped by the lack of English documentation, BYTEs American reviewers concluded in January 1981 after evaluating a unit purchased in Japan that "the PC-8001 appears to be an attractive, well-planned, and well-made personal computer... Most people who have seen our PC-8001 feel that, if it were sold in our country, it would provide strong competition for any of the color-based home computers currently being sold".