Texas Instruments TI-99 Personal Computer Line (1979-1984)

TI-99/4 & TI-99/4a + Commodore/TI Price War  The Texas Instruments 99/4 was the first personal computer released by TI. It was released in October 1979 for a price of $1150. Unfortunately, the computer failed miserably, selling only 20,000 units by the time it was discontinued due to its uncomfortable chiclet keyboard and high price. TI decided to re-evaluate and redesign the TI-99/4 for a re-release. The result was the TI-99/4A, which was released in June 1981 for a price of $525 - nearly half the price of its predecessor. This computer featured an updated keyboard design. Facing fierce competition from Commodore’s VIC-20 personal computer, TI realized they needed to lower the price of the 99/4a once more. In order to do that, they redesigned the computer once more, and started offering a lower-cost version. This began a long price war between Commodore and TI which led to the TI-99/4a to be sold for only $49, which was at a loss. TI discontinued the TI-99/4a in 1984, and left the