Anniversary: 30 Years Ago Today, Commodore Died 1
Image: Damien McFerran / Time Extension

On this day 30 years ago, computer giant Commodore announced it was to enter voluntary bankruptcy and liquidation.

The news came after years of the Amiga market shrinking and following costly commercial flops such as the CDTV and Amiga CD32.

At the start of the year, Commodore International had reported a $8.2 million quarterly loss in the US, yet its operations in Canada, Germany, and the United Kingdom remained profitable.

There were hopes that the European part of the company might survive via a management buyout or a sale to an interested party, but no deal was forthcoming. Commodore UK itself would last until August 30th, 1995, before going under.

The company was founded in 1976 by Jack Tramiel and Irving Gould. Its C64 personal computer was a massive success, enabling the firm to post sales of $49 million by the close of 1983.

Since 1994, the Commodore brand name has changed hands more than once, and AmigaOS is still in active development. We've also seen mini-consoles based on Commodore's products, including the A500 Mini and C64 Mini – and another Amiga-based system is coming this year.

Blaze has also released three C64 collections for its Evercade line of systems.

[source twitter.com]