Amstrad

Amstrad Ltd was an electronics and computer manufacturer founded in 1968 by Alan Sugar (company number 00955321). It was listed on the London Stock Exchange in 1980, and grew rapidly in that decade.

Initially trading in electronics, the firm began making personal computers in 1984, manufacturing the Amstrad CPC range. In 1985 the company introduced the CPW range of word processors with printers. These ran the LocoScript word processing program, but the company also established its Amsoft division in the same year, creating software and manufacturing consumables.

In April 1986 Amstrad bought the rights to manufacture and sell all existing and future Sinclair computers and computer products, in a lucrative deal. In the same year the company also began to produce MS-DOS based (and later Windows-based) computers, which proved popular in Europe.

In 1988, the company began to manufacture affordable, portable personal computers: the PPC512 and 640 models. Portable machines became the main focus of the business in the 1990s.

Issues with Amstrad's new range of personal desktop computers, the PC2000 series, failed attempts at getting into the gaming market, and a lack of success with its attempt at a PDA device, PenPad, all had an impact on the business in the 1990s. The company increasingly turned its focus toward telecommunications, acquiring Betacom, Dancall Telecom, Viglen Computers and Dataflex Design Communications.

In 1997 Amstrad was wound up, its shares being split into Viglen and Betacom. Betacom PLC was then renamed Amstrad PLC.