Amstrad

Amstrad Ltd is a British electronics company founded in 1968 by Alan Sugar in London. The name Amstrad is derived from Alan Michael Sugar Trading. The company began as a supplier and importer of consumer electronics and expanded into manufacturing and publishing budget computer systems and peripherals.

In the 1980s, Amstrad became well known for its line of home computers, the CPC series. The CPC 464, released in 1984, was an 8-bit machine with an integrated cassette recorder and a compact, budget-friendly design. It was followed by the CPC 664 and CPC 6128, which offered more RAM and disk options. The CPC line used a Z80-compatible processor and was popular in the United Kingdom and Europe for its value and ease of use, competing with other affordable home computers of the era.

Amstrad also produced IBM PC–compatible personal computers, including the PC1512 and PC1640, introduced in the mid to late 1980s as budget-oriented business and home systems designed to leverage the expanding PC market.

In 1986 Amstrad acquired Sinclair Research’s consumer electronics division, bringing the ZX Spectrum brand and related assets into its portfolio. This move broadened Amstrad’s footprint in home computing and gaming markets and helped maintain its presence in the European market during a period of rapid change in personal computing.

During the 1990s and 2000s, Amstrad shifted focus toward consumer electronics, notably satellite television receivers. It manufactured set-top boxes, including devices for BSkyB’s Sky Digibox platform, as well as other digital TV receivers and related peripherals.

In 2007 a management-led buyout led by founder Alan Sugar took Amstrad private. Since then the company has continued as a hardware-focused business in consumer electronics, rather than a primary producer of personal computers.