Commodore: The comeback

David Crookes looks at how a once powerful and influential tech brand hopes to shine once more, including an exclusive interview with Commodore's new owner

- By David Crookes

Commodore was once one of the world's biggest names in computing. In its golden years, it sold more computers than Apple, IBM and Atari. That success was founded on the 8-bit Commodore 64, the bestselling single computer model of all time, while the 16-bit Commodore Amiga is a legend in its own right. That machine was powerful enough to drive the visual effects for the popular sci-fi series Babylon 5.

But Commodore's fall came almost as rapidly as its rise. It filed for bankruptcy in 1994 and saw its liquidated assets sold to Escom, which went bust two years later. Bits of Commodore then ended up in lots of different hands, and it became increasingly difficult not only to work out who owned what but to figure out what Commodore actually represented.

Over the past three decades, you'll have found the name plastered on an eclectic range of products from the Commodore XX gaming PC and Commodore PET smartphone to LED lightbulbs and a personal multimedia player called Gravel in Pocket. Some devices have even been hits. Consider the Commodore 64 Direct-to-TV (C64DTV) plug-and-play joystick, initially sold by QVC in 2004, which shifted in the tens of thousands.

While the Commodore name has lost some of its lustre, people still remember its products fondly. Some companies have preferred to tap into the nostalgia of Commodore products without actually mentioning the name: Retro Games Ltd showed this to be the case with the launch of THEC64 Mini and THEA500 Mini, machines that used familiar model monikers instead.

So does that mean no-one cares for the Commodore brand any more, or has it simply been waiting for the right approach?

A fresh start