# HG changeset patch # User Paul Boddie # Date 1709659702 -3600 # Node ID 8270f1fd4e5e2739f992b91ff4f065dbf7043b03 # Parent d444825c4fa1af85a94db4844e1ed79bc077c233 Added memory pricing details. diff -r d444825c4fa1 -r 8270f1fd4e5e Electron.txt --- a/Electron.txt Wed May 17 16:52:59 2023 +0200 +++ b/Electron.txt Tue Mar 05 18:28:22 2024 +0100 @@ -158,12 +158,17 @@ May 1985 $3.94 $3.74 (multiples of 8) October 1986 $1.25 $1.15 +Volume industry pricing, as opposed to retail pricing, may have been +substantially lower still. One source ("High technology international trade +and competition") states that mid-1982 prices were $5.50 - $7.00 for 64Kbit +parts, but these had fallen to $3.50 - $5.00 by the end of 1982. + Other contemporary microcomputers offered 64K RAM using 4164 parts, such as -the Sony SMC-70 and, more pertinently, the Atari 800XL. The latter of these -appears to have employed 150ns-rated parts - eight as indicated above - and -may have had a broadly similar production cost to the Electron. Meanwhile, the -AT&T Unix PC (featured in Byte, May 1985) employed 64 4164 parts to provide -512K RAM. +the Sony SMC-70 and, more pertinently, the Oric 1 and the Atari 800XL. The +latter of these appears to have employed 150ns-rated parts - eight as +indicated above - and may have had a broadly similar production cost to the +Electron. Meanwhile, the AT&T Unix PC (featured in Byte, May 1985) employed 64 +4164 parts to provide 512K RAM. The Acorn Customer Service manual for dealers, "Information Volume 1", includes Acorn's pricing for memory for the different computers in their @@ -176,6 +181,12 @@ http://www.4corn.co.uk/archive/docs/Acorn%20Information%20-%20Volume%201-opt.pdf +Sinclair used the 32-kilobit TMS4532 part in the ZX Spectrum, this being a +64-kilobit device with defects that only permit the use of half of the +originally intended capacity. Such parts do seem to have been sold, although +not particularly widely. Watford Electronics listed the price of a 4532-3 part +in April 1983 as being £3.50. + Support Components and Economic Considerations ---------------------------------------------- @@ -205,20 +216,33 @@ Indeed, it is worth investigating anticipated costs and savings given the pricing of dynamic RAM at different times: - 4 * 4164 (32K) 8 * 4164 (64K) -1981 $200 $400 -1982/01 $80 $160 -1982/04 $60 $120 -1983 $28 $56 -1985 $10 $20 + 4 * 4164 (32K) 8 * 4164 (64K) + Retail Volume Retail Volume +1981 $200/£100 $400/£199 +1982/01 $80 /£46 $160/£91 +1982/04 $60 /£34 $120/£69 +Mid-1982 $28/£16 $56/£32 +End-1982 $20/£11 $40/£23 +1983 $28 /£18 $56 /£37 +1985 $10 /£8 $20 /£16 + +Here, the Wikipedia {{ToUSD|1|GBR|year=...|round=no}} template has been used +to generate the following conversion table, used for the UK currency values +above: + +1981 $2.01 +1982 $1.75 +1983 $1.52 +1984 $1.33 +1985 $1.28 Clearly, the Electron would have been an expensive machine in 1981 had it been -designed around 64Kbit dynamic RAM. With 1982 pricing, the RAM chips would -have accounted for a considerable proportion of the machine's cost even with -the use of only 4 memory chips, and it is probable that the design strategy -may have been informed by the pricing at this time. With 1983 pricing, even -early in the year, it becomes apparent that the cost savings of using 4 memory -chips are becoming marginal. +designed around 64Kbit dynamic RAM. With early 1982 pricing, the RAM chips +would have accounted for a considerable proportion of the machine's cost even +with the use of only 4 memory chips, and it is probable that the design +strategy may have been informed by the pricing at this time. With 1983 +pricing, even early in the year, it becomes apparent that the cost savings of +using 4 memory chips are becoming much less significant. Indeed, combining the cost of 8 memory chips in 1983 with those of the eliminated chips yields costs as much as or less than the 4-chip product at