Compaq
Wordmark logo used from 1993 to 2007[a] | |
Aerial photo of Compaq's former headquarters in unincorporated Harris County, Texas (circa 2002) | |
| Compaq | |
| Company type | Public |
| NYSE: CPQ[2] | |
| Industry | Computer hardware Computer software |
| Genre | Computer |
| Founded | February 16, 1982 |
| Founders | Rod Canion Jim Harris Bill Murto |
| Defunct | 2002 (as a separate company) 2013 (as a brand of HP; still active outside of the US) |
| Fate | Acquired by Hewlett-Packard, brand name retired by HP in 2013 |
| Successor | Itself (as a brand of Hewlett-Packard; 2002−2013) Hewlett-Packard (2013−2015) HP Inc. (2015−present)[b] |
| Headquarters | Harris County, Texas , U.S. |
Area served |
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| Products | Desktops, laptops, servers, telecom equipment, software |
| Subsidiaries | Tandem Computers Digital Equipment Corporation |
| Website |
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Compaq Computer Corporation[c] was an American information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced some of the first IBM PC compatible computers, being the second company after Columbia Data Products[3] to legally reverse engineer the BIOS of the IBM Personal Computer.[4][5] It rose to become the largest supplier of PC systems during the 1990s. The company was initially based in Harris County, Texas.
The company was formed by Rod Canion, Jim Harris, and Bill Murto, all of whom were former Texas Instruments senior managers. All three had left the company in 1991 due to an internal shakeup, and saw Eckhard Pfeiffer appointed as president and CEO, who served throughout the 1990s. Ben Rosen provided the venture capital financing for the fledgling company and served as chairman of the board for 17 years from 1983 until September 28, 2000, when he retired and was succeeded by Michael Capellas, who served as its last chairman and CEO until its merger.[6][7]
In 1999, Compaq was overtaken by Dell as the top global PC maker.[8] It briefly regained the top spot in 2000 before being overtaken again by Dell in 2001.[9] Struggling to keep up against its competitors following the launch of a joint venture with ADI Corporation in 1994, the price wars against Dell, as well as a risky acquisition of DEC in 1998 (which includes the inheritance of the DEC Alpha family of CPUs),[10] Compaq was acquired by Hewlett-Packard (HP) for US$25 billion in 2002.[11][12] Despite using the Compaq name in HP's own HP Compaq brand of business computers, which served as a replacement for the Compaq Evo in 2003 as well as the HP ProBook brand in 2009, the Compaq brand as a whole remained in use by HP for lower-end systems until 2013 when it was discontinued;[13] two years after the Compaq brand was discontinued, HP itself was later split up into two companies in 2015, leading to its legal successors HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise.[14]
As of 2025, the Compaq brand is currently licensed to third parties outside of the United States for use on electronics in Latin America (e.g. Mexico and Brazil) and India.[15][16]
- ^ Greene, Tim (15 June 1998). "Compaq airs post-merger plan". Network World. 15 (24). IDG Publications: 7. ProQuest 215962238.
- ^ Staff writer (2 January 2002). "Compaq buys back $1 bln in stock". CNET. Red Ventures.
- ^ Aboard the Columbia, By Bill Machrone, p. 451, Jun 1983, PC Mag.
- ^ "Compaq I Portable computer". Retrieved 29 June 2016.
- ^ The Compaq computer is a full-function portable business computer that resembles the IBM PC in almost every way..., Byte review. Archived May 13, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
- ^ "Compaq Names Michael Capellas Chairman". H41131.www4.hp.com. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
- ^ "Compaq Appoints Michael D. Capellas President and Chief Executive Officer". H41131.www4.hp.com. Retrieved 26 August 2012.
- ^ Rivkin, Jan W., and Porter, Michael E. Matching Dell, Harvard Business School Case 9-799-158, June 6, 1999.
- ^ "Dell becomes world's top PC maker". 20 April 2001. Retrieved 21 September 2024.
- ^ Dell Computer Corporation Online Case Archived 2013-01-04 at archive.today. Mhhe.com. Retrieved on 2016-06-10.
- ^ "Hewlett-Packard and Compaq Agree to Merge, Creating $87 Billion Global Technology Leader" (Press release). Hewlett-Packard. 3 September 2001. Retrieved 4 October 2008.
- ^ "Hewlett-Packard in Deal to Buy Compaq for $25 Billion in Stock". The New York Times. 4 September 2001. Retrieved 4 October 2008.
- ^ Chris Ziegler (23 May 2012). "'HP Compaq' branding to end next year, Compaq name will live on for 'basic computing at entry-level pricing'". The Verge. Retrieved 16 November 2012.
- ^ Mukherjee, Supantha; Chan, Edwin (6 October 2014). "Hewlett-Packard to split into two public companies, lay off 5,000". Reuters. Retrieved 6 May 2025.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
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