Amstrad
Sign in to saveAlso known as Amstrad Limited
Amstrad plc was a British consumer electronics company, founded in 1968 by Alan Sugar. During the 1980s, the company was known for its home computers beginning with the Amstrad CPC and later also the ZX Spectrum range after the Sinclair deal, which led it to have a substantial share of the home computer market in Britain. In the following decade it shifted focus towards communication technologies, and its main business during the 2000s was the manufacture of satellite television set-top boxes for Sky, which Amstrad had started in 1989 as the then sole supplier of the emerging Sky TV service.
Key facts
- Company.name
- Amstrad plc
- Company.logo
- Amstrad logo.svg
- Company.image
- "Sugar Tower", Brentwood, Essex - geograph.org.uk - 50659.jpg
- Company.image_caption
- Sugar Tower in Brentwood, England (pictured in 2005)
- Company.trading_name
- Amstrad
- Company.traded_as
- LSE: AMS (1980-2007) FTSE 100 component (until 2007)
- Company.foundation
- 1 November 1968 (original company)
- Company.location
- Kings Road, Brentwood, Essex, United Kingdom
- Company.area_served
- UK and Ireland
- Company.founder
- Alan Sugar
- Company.industry
- Electronics
- Company.revenue
- £91.65 million (2006)
- Company.operating_income
- £26.94 million GBP (2006)
- Company.net_income
- £15.08 million GBP (2006)
- Company.num_employees
- 85 (2005)
- Company.fate
- Acquired by Sky (2007); name reacquired by Sugar in 2024
via Wikipedia infobox
Wikidata facts
- Official website
- www.amstrad.com
- Image
- "Sugar Tower", Brentwood, Essex - geograph.org.uk - 50659.jpg
Show 3 more facts
- Commons category
- Amstrad
- inception
- 1968-01-01
- dissolved, abolished or demolished date
- 2008-00-00
via Wikidata · CC0
~16 min read
Article
20 sectionsContents
- History
- Early beginnings
- Home computers
- Launch of Sky and Astra Satellite
- Restructuring in the 1990s
- E-m@iler, Sky boxes, and final years
- BSkyB takeover
- Revival of Amstrad name
- Computer product lines
- Home computers
- Word processors
- Notepad computers
- PC compatibles
- PC accessories
- PDA
- Set-top box
- See also
- References
- Further reading
- External links
Amstrad plc was a British consumer electronics company, founded in 1968 by Alan Sugar. During the 1980s, the company was known for its home computers beginning with the Amstrad CPC and later also the ZX Spectrum range after the Sinclair deal, which led it to have a substantial share of the home computer market in Britain. In the following decade it shifted focus towards communication technologies, and its main business during the 2000s was the manufacture of satellite television set-top boxes for Sky, which Amstrad had started in 1989 as the then sole supplier of the emerging Sky TV service.
Headquartered in Brentwood, the company was listed on the London Stock Exchange from 1980 to 2008, the year when Sugar stepped down after 40 years. After acquiring Betacom and Viglen, Amstrad was broken up in 1997 but the name was soon revived when successor Betacom plc renamed itself to Amstrad plc. Amstrad was a FTSE 100 Index constituent up until the company was acquired by BSkyB in 2007 for £125 million. In 2010, Sky integrated Amstrad's satellite division as part of Sky so they could make their own set-top boxes in-house.