Editing Coleco (section)

=== 1970s: financial difficulties and further diversification ===
Coleco experienced financial difficulty during the 1970s, even though sales had grown to $48.6 million in 1971. In 1972, Coleco entered the snowmobile market through acquisition. Lower than expected snowfall that year and market conditions led to very reduced sales and poor profits.

Dozens of companies rushed to introduce game systems after the release of [[Atari]]'s successful ''[[Pong]]'' console and the company entered the [[video game console]] business with the [[Coleco Telstar|Telstar]]. Nearly all of the new game systems were based on [[General Instrument]]'s "''Pong''-on-a-chip". General Instrument had underestimated demand, resulting in severe shortages. However, Coleco was one of the first to place an order and therefore one of the few companies to receive the full order. Though dedicated game consoles did not last long on the market, their early order enabled Coleco to [[break-even|break even]].