Editing Commodore International (section)

===Decline and later years (1987–1994)===

Commodore suffered a poor reputation with its dealers and customers, and upon the 1987 introduction of the Amiga 2000, Commodore retreated from its earlier strategy of selling its computers to discount outlets and toy stores and favored authorized dealers.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.philly.com/1988-11-07/business/26247191_1_amiga-commodore-international-jack-tramiel |title=Commodore's Back On Line, And Amiga's The Reason |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112211040/http://articles.philly.com/1988-11-07/business/26247191_1_amiga-commodore-international-jack-tramiel |archive-date=January 12, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue88/AmigaView.php |title=The Great Amiga Reboot |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112231318/http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue88/AmigaView.php |archive-date=January 12, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_z4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA36 |title=1987 Commodore ad in InfoWorld targeted at dealers |date=October 26, 1987 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514032133/https://books.google.com/books?id=_z4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA36 |archive-date=May 14, 2015 }}</ref> [[Adam Osborne]] stated in April 1981 that "the microcomputer industry abounds with horror stories describing the way Commodore treats its dealers and its customers."<ref name="osborne19810413">{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Dj4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA42 |title=The Portable Osborne |work=InfoWorld |date=April 13, 1981 |access-date=January 1, 2015 |author=Osborne, Adam |pages=42–43 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318054343/http://books.google.com/books?id=Dj4EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP42&rview=1&pg=PA42 |archive-date=March 18, 2015 }}</ref> Commodore under Tramiel had a reputation for [[cannibalization (marketing)|cannibalizing]] its own products with newer ones;{{r|pollack19840114}} [[Doug Carlston]] and others in the industry believed rumors in late 1983 that Commodore would discontinue the C64 despite its success because they disliked the company's business practices, including its poor treatment of dealers and introducing new computers incompatible with existing ones. A Boston reseller said, "It's too unsettling to be one of their dealers and not know where you stand with them."<ref name="wierzbicki1983">{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6C8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA24 |title=Longevity of Commodore 64, VIC 20 questioned |work=InfoWorld |date=December 5, 1983 |access-date=January 13, 2015 |author=Wierzbicki, Barbara |page=24 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318062120/https://books.google.com/books?id=6C8EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA23&pg=PA24 |archive-date=March 18, 2015 }}</ref> After Tramiel's departure, another journalist wrote that he "had never been able to establish excellent relations with computer dealers ... computer retailers have accused Commodore of treating them as harshly as if they were suppliers or competitors, and as a result, many have become disenchanted with Commodore and dropped the product line".{{r|leemon198405}} Software developers also disliked the company, with one stating that "Dealing with Commodore was like dealing with [[Attila|Attila the Hun]]."<ref name="chinsoft19850128">{{cite news |last=Chin |first=Kathy |date=January 28, 1985 |title=Atari Promises Software For ST |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6i4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15 |work=InfoWorld |publisher=IDG |page=17 |access-date=March 19, 2011 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130527224216/http://books.google.com/books?id=6i4EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA15 |archive-date=May 27, 2013}}</ref> At the 1987 [[Comdex]], an informal ''[[InfoWorld]]'' survey found that none of the developers present planned to write for Commodore platforms.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Sj0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA8 |title=OS/2's Arrival Marks the Dawn of a New Era |date=November 9, 1987 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514012249/https://books.google.com/books?id=Sj0EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8 |archive-date=May 14, 2015 }}</ref> Commodore's software had a poor reputation;{{Additional citation needed|date=August 2023}} ''InfoWorld'' in 1984, for example, stated that "so far, the normal standard for Commodore software is mediocrity".<ref name="mace19840409">{{cite news|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jC4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA50 |title=Atarisoft vs. Commodore |work=InfoWorld |date=April 9, 1984 |access-date=February 4, 2015 |author=Mace, Scott |page=50 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150318135131/http://books.google.com/books?id=jC4EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA15&pg=PA50 |archive-date=March 18, 2015 | volume=6 |issue=15 }}</ref>

Tramiel's successor, Marshall F. Smith, left the company in 1986, as did his successor [[Thomas Rattigan]] in 1987 after a failed [[boardroom coup]]. The head of [[Blue Chip Electronics]], a former Commodore employee, described the company as "a well-known revolving door".<ref name="carroll19870501">{{cite news| last1 = Carroll| first1= Paul B.| date= May 1, 1987| url= https://www.proquest.com/docview/398082524/| title= Commodore's Gould Seizes the Spotlight| work= The Wall Street Journal| publisher= Dow Jones & Company| issn= 0099-9660| page= 1| via= ProQuest}}</ref> Commodore faced the problem when marketing the Amiga of still being seen as the company that made cheap computers like the C64 and VIC.<ref name="dvorak198509">{{cite news|url=https://archive.org/stream/Ahoy_Issue_21_1985-09_Ion_International_US#page/n3/mode/2up |title=Image |work=Ahoy! |date=September 1985 |access-date=June 27, 2014 |author=[[John C. Dvorak|Dvorak, John C.]] |page=5 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160315050902/https://archive.org/stream/Ahoy_Issue_21_1985-09_Ion_International_US |archive-date=March 15, 2016 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.technologizer.com/2010/07/23/amiga/ |title=Amiga: 25 Years Later |date=July 23, 2010 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150101180504/http://www.technologizer.com/2010/07/23/amiga/ |archive-date=January 1, 2015 }}</ref> The C64 remained the company's [[cash cow]] but its technology was aging.{{r|carroll19870501}} By the late 1980s, the personal computer market had become dominated by the IBM PC and [[Apple Macintosh]] platforms. Commodore's marketing efforts for the Amiga were less successful in breaking the new computer into an established market compared to the success of its 8-bit line. The company put effort into developing and promoting consumer products that would not be in demand for years, such as an [[Amiga 500]]-based [[HTPC]] called [[CDTV]].

[[File:Commodore C286-LT laptop (1).jpg|thumb|Commodore C286-LT (1990)]]
As early as 1986, the mainstream press was predicting Commodore's demise,<ref>{{cite news|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,960694-1,00.html |title=Adios, Amiga? |magazine=Time |date=February 24, 1986 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111204030018/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0%2C9171%2C960694-1%2C00.html |archive-date=December 4, 2011 }}</ref> and in 1990 ''Computer Gaming World'' wrote of its "abysmal record of customer and technical support in the past".<ref name="cgw19900708">{{cite news|url=http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1990&pub=2&id=73 |title=The Maturation of Computer Entertainment: Warming The Global Village |magazine=Computer Gaming World |date=July 8, 1990 |access-date=November 16, 2013 |page=11 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131203063559/http://www.cgwmuseum.org/galleries/index.php?year=1990&pub=2&id=73 |archive-date=December 3, 2013 }}</ref> Nevertheless, as profits and the stock price began to slide, ''The Philadelphia Inquirer's'' Top 100 Businesses Annual continued to list several Commodore executives among the highest-paid in the region and the paper documented the company's questionable hiring practices and large bonuses paid to executives amid shareholder discontent.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.philly.com/1990-11-02/business/25929550_1_irving-gould-proxy-statement-mehdi-ali |title=Pay Went Up As Profits Plunged Proxy Reveals Big Salaries At Commodore |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112171447/http://articles.philly.com/1990-11-02/business/25929550_1_irving-gould-proxy-statement-mehdi-ali |archive-date=January 12, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.philly.com/1989-11-03/business/26140777_1_thomas-rattigan-irving-gould-commodore |title=Executive Benefits Questioned Commodore Hurting, But Officials Aren't |quote=Ali's minimum $2 million annual combined salary and bonus will certainly earn him a place among the most richly rewarded technology company executives in the country. |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112171702/http://articles.philly.com/1989-11-03/business/26140777_1_thomas-rattigan-irving-gould-commodore |archive-date=January 12, 2015 }}</ref>

[[File:Commodore PC20.jpg|thumb|Commodore PC20 (1992)]]

Commodore failed to update the Amiga to keep pace as the PC platform advanced.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://lowendmac.com/orchard/06/amiga-origin-commodore.html |title=The Amiga Story: Conceived at Atari, Born at Commodore |quote=Commodore began to falter in the early 90s as Windows PCs became more advanced. The multimedia features that wowed audiences in 1985 were commonplace in inexpensive computers of the early 90s. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112181517/http://lowendmac.com/orchard/06/amiga-origin-commodore.html |archive-date=January 12, 2015 }}</ref> CBM continued selling the [[Amiga 2000]] with 7.14&nbsp;MHz [[Motorola 68000|68000]] CPUs, even though the [[Amiga 3000]] with its 25&nbsp;MHz [[68030]] was on the market. Apple, by this time, was using the [[Motorola 68040|68040]] and had relegated the 68000 to its lowest-end model, the black and white [[Macintosh Classic]]. The 68000 was used in the [[Sega Genesis]], one of the leading [[game consoles]] of the era,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue125/A32_Whats_hot_Amiga_or.php |title=What's hot: Amiga or Sega? |quote=Still, Amiga owners could take consolation in the fact that their system played the best games around. But that's no longer the case. New videogame systems, NEC TurboGrafix, and SNK's NeoGeo--have surpassed the Amiga as a game machine. Another up-and-comer, the Nintendo SFX (known in Japan as the SuperFamicom), will blow it away. Meanwhile, after seven years, the Amiga still has the same palette, the same eight sprites, and the same four audio voices. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112200456/http://www.atarimagazines.com/compute/issue125/A32_Whats_hot_Amiga_or.php |archive-date=January 12, 2015 }}</ref> Computers fitted with high-color [[Video Graphics Array|VGA]] [[graphics card]]s and [[SoundBlaster]] (or compatible) [[sound card]]s had also caught up with the Amiga's performance,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.amigareport.com/ar132/p1-8.html |title=Taking the PC Plunge! |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141228232121/http://amigareport.com/ar132/p1-8.html |archive-date=December 28, 2014 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/04/a-history-of-the-amiga-part-9-the-demo-scene/2/ |title=A history of the Amiga Part 8: The demo scene |date=April 29, 2013 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170704093424/https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2013/04/a-history-of-the-amiga-part-9-the-demo-scene/2/ |archive-date=July 4, 2017 }}</ref> and Commodore began to fade from the consumer market.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.ischool.utexas.edu/~wyllys/multmed/mm03.html|title=MULTIMEDIA AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS, 1997-2002:PERSPECTIVES AND RECOMMENDATIONS.}}</ref>

Although the Amiga was originally conceived as a gaming machine, Commodore had always emphasized the Amiga's potential for professional applications,<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LxMCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15 |title=Looks great, Manny, but will it sell? |date=August 5, 1985 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514005820/https://books.google.com/books?id=LxMCAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15&lpg=PA15 |archive-date=May 14, 2015 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/30/science/peripherals-commodore-introduces-new-amiga.html |title=PERIPHERALS; COMMODORE INTRODUCES NEW AMIGA |work=The New York Times |date=July 30, 1985 |quote=...as a new, untested machine from a company that has previously sold its products in toy stores, Amiga faces a tough challenge in cracking the conservative business market. Commodore officials vow that Amiga is the flagship of an armada of business products that will transform the company into a major international technological force. |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161023061020/http://www.nytimes.com/1985/07/30/science/peripherals-commodore-introduces-new-amiga.html |archive-date=October 23, 2016 | url-access=limited|last1=Lewis |first1=Peter H. }}</ref> but the Amiga's high-performance sound and graphics were irrelevant to [[MS-DOS]]-based routine business word-processing and data-processing requirements, and the machine could not successfully compete with computers in a business market that was rapidly undergoing [[commoditization]]. Commodore introduced a range of [[Commodore PC compatible systems|PC compatible systems]] designed by its German division, and while the Commodore name was better known in the US than some of its competition, the systems' price and specifications were only average.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/run-magazine-42/Run_Issue_42_1987_Jun#page/n29/mode/2up |title=RUN Magazine issue 42 |date=June 1987 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160403030408/https://archive.org/stream/run-magazine-42/Run_Issue_42_1987_Jun |archive-date=April 3, 2016}}</ref>

Sales of the PC range were strong in Germany, however, seeing Commodore acquire a 28% share of this market segment in 1990, second only to [[IBM]].<ref name="amigauser199508_escom">{{ cite magazine | url=https://archive.org/details/amiga-user-international-vol-9-8/page/n4/mode/1up | title=The Men from ESCOM | magazine=Amiga User International | date=August 1995 | access-date=19 August 2024 | last1=Jacobson | first1=Antony | last2=Blackham | first2=Mark | pages=5, 16–18 }}</ref> Things were less rosy in the United States, where Commodore had a 6% share in the market segment as of 1989, down from 26% in 1984. ''[[Forbes]]''<nowiki/>'s Evan McGlinn wrote regarding the firm's decline, citing management as the source cause: "the absentee-landlord management style of globe-trotting chairman and chief executive Irving Gould."<ref name=":5" /> With the Amiga only representing less than 20% of the company's sales in the 1987 fiscal year, product lines such as PC-compatibles and Commodore's 8-bit computers remained important to the company's finances even as the Amiga's share of total sales increased. In 1989, with the Amiga accounting for 45% of total sales, the PC business showed modest growth to 24% of total sales, and the Commodore 64 and 128 products still generated 31% of the company's revenues.<ref name="commodore1989">{{ cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/cil-1989-annual-report/page/n4/mode/1up | title=Commodore International Limited 1989 Annual Report | publisher=Commodore International Limited | date=7 August 1989 | access-date=19 August 2024 | pages=3 }}</ref>

Commodore attempted to develop new chipsets during the early 1990s, first the [[Advanced Amiga Architecture chipset|Advanced Amiga Architecture]] and later the [[Amiga Hombre chipset|Hombre]]. Funding problems meant that they did not materialize as ultimately the company would go bust. In 1992, the [[Amiga 600]] replaced the Amiga 500, which removed the numeric keypad, Zorro expansion slot, and other functionality, but added [[Integrated Drive Electronics|IDE]], [[PCMCIA]], and intended as a cost-reduced design. Designed as the Amiga 300, a non-expandable model to sell for less than the [[Amiga 500]], the 600 became a replacement for the 500 due to the unexpectedly higher cost of manufacture. Productivity developers increasingly moved to PC and Macintosh, while the [[console wars]] took over the gaming market. David Pleasance, managing director of Commodore UK,<ref>{{cite web|url=http://articles.philly.com/1994-09-01/business/25838657_1_amigas-commodore-international-newtek |title=A Multimedia Gem Commodore Is Dead. Long Live The Amiga. Suddenly, It's A Hot Item. |quote=David Pleasance, joint managing director of Commodore's United Kingdom subsidiary... |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112210928/http://articles.philly.com/1994-09-01/business/25838657_1_amigas-commodore-international-newtek |archive-date=January 12, 2015 }}</ref> described the Amiga 600 as a "complete and utter screw-up".<ref>Tim Smith and Chris Lloyd (1994), "Chewing the Facts", 'Amiga Format' Annual 1994, 106-111, 107.</ref> In the same year, Commodore released the Amiga 1200 and Amiga 4000 computers, which featured an improved graphics chipset, the [[Advanced Graphics Architecture|AGA]]. The advent of PC games using 3D graphics such as ''[[Doom (1993 video game)|Doom]]'' and ''[[Wolfenstein 3D]]'' spelled the end of Amiga as a gaming platform.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=z-blqZH2gWwC&pg=PA249 |title=The Future Was Here: The Commodore Amiga |isbn=9780262300742 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150514002912/https://books.google.com/books?id=z-blqZH2gWwC&pg=PA249 |archive-date=May 14, 2015 |last1=Maher |first1=Jimmy |date=April 13, 2012 |publisher=MIT Press }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.natami.net/concept.htm|title=Natami Project Home Page|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://archive.today/20150118223918/http://www.natami.net/concept.htm|archive-date=January 18, 2015}}</ref>

[[File:Amiga-CD32-wController-L.jpg|thumb|Amiga CD32 (1993)]]
In 1993, Commodore launched a 32-bit [[CD-ROM]]-based [[game console]] called the [[Amiga CD32]], described as a 'make or break' system, according to Pleasance.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://archive.org/stream/amigashopper-magazine-46/AmigaShopper_46_Feb_1995_djvu.txt |title=Amiga Shopper Feb 1995 |date=February 1995 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160401193354/https://archive.org/stream/amigashopper-magazine-46/AmigaShopper_46_Feb_1995_djvu.txt |archive-date=April 1, 2016}}</ref> The [[Amiga CD32]] was not sufficiently profitable to return Commodore to solvency, however this was not a universal opinion at Commodore, with Commodore Germany hardware expert Rainer Benda stating "The CD32 was a year late for Commodore. In other words, here, too, it might have been better to focus on the core business than jump on a console and hope to sell 300,000 or more units quickly to avoid bankruptcy."<ref>{{Cite web|title=Forum / Interview / Rainer Benda|url=http://www.amigagadget.de/45/f.int.rainerbenda.html|access-date=2020-06-21|website=Amigagadget.de}}</ref>

{{quote box
| align = left
| width = 25em
| quote = "Commodore's high point was the Amiga 1000 (1985). The Amiga was so far ahead of its time that almost nobody--including Commodore's marketing department--could fully articulate what it was all about. Today, it's obvious the Amiga was the first multimedia computer. Still, in those days, it was derided as a game machine because few people grasped the importance of advanced graphics, sound, and video. Nine years later, vendors are still struggling to make systems that work like 1985 Amigas."
| source = —&nbsp;''[[Byte Magazine]],'' August 1994
}}

In 1992, all UK servicing and warranty repairs were outsourced to [[Wang Laboratories]],{{citation needed|date=September 2014}} which was replaced by [[International Computers Limited|ICL]] after failing to meet repair demand during the Christmas rush in 1992.<ref>CTW August 16, 1993</ref> Commodore International's Canadian subsidiary authorized [[3D Microcomputers]] of Ontario to manufacture IBM PC clones with the Commodore brand in late 1993.<ref name="Staff_writer1993">{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=December 27, 1993 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/202749411/ | title=3D to make, distribute DOS-based Commodores | journal=Computer Dealer News | publisher=Plesman Publications | volume=9 | issue=26 | page=2 | via=ProQuest}}</ref> Commodore exited the IBM PC clone market entirely during the 1993 fiscal year, citing the low profitability of this market. PC sales had remained relatively stable and, accounting for 37% of revenue from sales in 1993, had grown modestly as declines in both unit sales and revenues were recorded for the Amiga and Commodore 64 product lines.<ref name="commodore1993">{{ cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/commodore-annual-report-1993/page/n3/mode/1up | title=Commodore International Limited 1993 Annual Report | publisher=Commodore International Limited | date=17 December 1993 | access-date=17 November 2024 | pages=2 }}</ref>

By 1994, only Commodore's operations in Canada,<ref name=Staff_writer1994a>{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=April 20, 1994 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/202752243/ | title=Commodore's financial woes leave it facing uncertain future | journal=Computer Dealer News | publisher=Plesman Publications | volume=10 | issue=8 | page=6 | via=ProQuest}}</ref> Germany, and the United Kingdom were still profitable.{{citation needed|date=April 2022}} Commodore announced voluntary bankruptcy and [[liquidation]] on April 29, 1994,<ref>{{cite journal | last=Schofield | first=Jack | date=May 5, 1994 | url=https://www.proquest.com/docview/293408265/ | title=Adios Amiga? Commodore is going into voluntary liquidation. Will its products survive? | journal=The Guardian | publisher=Guardian Newspapers | via=ProQuest}}</ref><ref>{{cite news | last=Burgess | first=John | date=May 9, 1994 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/business/1994/05/09/adios-amiga-and-commodore/eb099967-0bc6-47bd-aac5-b0068ac58a23/ | title=Adios, Amiga and Commodore: From a Bang to a Whimper, PC Maker Closes Its Doors | newspaper=The Washington Post | page=F17}}</ref> causing the board of directors to "authorize the transfer of its assets to trustees for the benefit of its creditors", according to an official statement.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=Commodore Sinks|magazine=[[GamePro]]|issue=60|publisher=[[International Data Group|IDG]]|date=July 1994|page=168}}</ref> With Commodore International having reported a {{nowrap|$8.2 million}} quarterly loss in the US, hopes were expressed that European divisions might be able to continue trading and even survive the demise of the parent company, with a management buyout considered a possibility. Other possibilities included the sale of profitable parts of the company to other parties, with [[Philips]] and [[Samsung]] considered "likely choices". However, no sale was ever completed.<ref name="pcw199407_commodore">{{ cite magazine | title=Commodore International goes into voluntary liquidation | magazine=Personal Computer World | date=July 1994 | last1=Magee | first1=Mike | pages=214 }}</ref>