Busicom

Busicom Co., Ltd.
Native name
ビジコン株式会社
Bijikon Kabushiki-gaisha
Company typePublic (K.K)
IndustryElectronics
Founded8 August 1944; 80 years ago (1944-08-08)
Defunct1974 (1974) (Bijikon)
2016 (2016) (Broughtons)
Fatebought by Broughtons of Bristol
HeadquartersTaitō, Tokyo, Japan
Key people
Yoshio Kojima (President)
ProductsCalculators and ATMs
Websitewww.busicom.com
On the left, the NEC TK-80 kit, based on Intel 8080 chip; on the centre, Busicom calculator motherboard, based on Intel 4004 chip; and on the right, the Busicom calculator, fully assembled in Ueno, Tokyo

Busicom Co., Ltd. (ビジコン株式会社, Bijikon Kabushiki-gaisha) was a Japanese company that manufactured and sold computer-related products headquartered in Taito, Tokyo. It owned the rights to Intel's first microprocessor, the Intel 4004, which they created in partnership with Intel in 1970.

Busicom asked Intel to design a set of integrated circuits for a new line of programmable electronic calculators in 1969.[1]: 261 [2] In doing this, they spurred the invention of Intel's first microprocessor to be commercialized,[1]: 262–263  the Intel 4004. Busicom owned the exclusive rights to the design and its components in 1970 but shared them with Intel in 1971.[3]

Two other companies have done business as "Busicom" over the years: the Nippon Calculating Machine Corp, Ltd and subsequently Broughtons & Co. (Bristol) Ltd of the UK.

  1. ^ a b Augarten, S. (1984). Bit by Bit. Ticknor & Fields.
  2. ^ Stine, G. H. (1985). The Untold Story of the Computer Revolution. Arbor House. p. 163.
  3. ^ Reid, T. R. (1984). The Chip. Simon and Schuster. pp. 141–142.