#4. TURBO PC

Manufacturer: Dell

Release Year: 1985

Dell was founded by Michael Dell when he was a student at the University of Texas, Austin. Dell’s idea was to directly sell IBM PC compatibles to customers and he was pretty successful in that. Dell operated his startup from his off-campus dormitory room at Dobie Center. Later Michael Dell founded the company under the label ‘PCs Limited’ with an initial capital of $1000. In 1985, Dell and his company successfully launched their first computer design, namely the ‘Turbo PC’. The initial price tag of the PC was around $795. The PC contained an Intel 8088 compatible processor, which ran at a speed of 8MHz. The company offered sales directly to customers and presented prices lower than those of other retail brands. This move changed the whole landscape of the company, as the product grossed more than $73 million in its initial year of trading. In 1988, the company changed its brand name into ‘Dell Computer Corporation’.