Compaq | |
Company type | Public |
NYSE: CPQ[2] | |
Industry | Computer hardware Computer software |
Genre | Computer |
Founded | February 16, 1982 |
Founders | Rod Canion Jim Harris Bill Murto |
Defunct | 2002 (as a separate company) 2013 (as a brand of HP; still active outside of the US) |
Fate | Acquired by Hewlett-Packard, brand name retired by HP in 2013 |
Successor | Itself (as a brand of Hewlett-Packard; 2002−2013) Hewlett-Packard/HP Inc.[b] (since 2013) |
Headquarters | , U.S. |
Area served |
|
Products | Desktops, laptops, servers, telecom equipment, software |
Subsidiaries | Tandem Computers Digital Equipment Corporation |
Website | www |
Compaq Computer Corporation[c] was an American information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced some of the first IBM PC compatible computers, being the second company after Columbia Data Products[3] to legally reverse engineer the BIOS of the IBM Personal Computer.[4][5] It rose to become the largest supplier of PC systems during the 1990s. The company was initially based in Harris County, Texas.
The company was formed by Rod Canion, Jim Harris, and Bill Murto, all of whom were former Texas Instruments senior managers. All three had left by 1991 under a shakeup, which saw Eckhard Pfeiffer appointed president and CEO, serving through the 1990s. Ben Rosen provided the venture capital financing for the fledgling company and served as chairman of the board for 17 years from 1983 until September 28, 2000, when he retired and was succeeded by Michael Capellas, who served as its last chairman and CEO until its merger.[6][7]
Compaq was overtaken by Dell as the top global PC maker in 2001.[8][9] Struggling to keep up in the price wars against Dell, as well as with a risky acquisition of DEC,[10] Compaq was acquired for US$25 billion by Hewlett-Packard (HP) in 2002.[11][12] The Compaq brand remained in use by HP for lower-end systems until 2013 when it was discontinued.[13] Since then, the brand has been licensed to third parties for use on electronics in Brazil and India.[14][15]
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