Atari market prices in the past

[twh/f2]

Hello,

 

I wonder how the price strategy of Atari Corp. was for the 8bit market and how they positioned their products against their competitiors like Commodore. Some C64 folks argue that the C64 was less expensive then Atari products. I can't really believe that.

 

Just some examples for prices in Germany which I still remember:

 

In 1986 the Atari 130XE was 299,- DM - the C64 was at this time also 299,- DM even though it was a 64kb machine (!)

In 1988 the Atari 800XL was 189,- DM

 

Do you still remember what you have paid? Was the Atari 8bit on price all the time more or less equally to the C64?

 

grtx,

\twh::taos

[AtariAndy75]

Yeah I remember in Dublin, Ireland the price for the Atari machine was less than the C64. My first 8 bit was an Atari 600XL with the RAM expansion and I think it was around £120 Irish Pounds at the time. I was quite young but I remember that my parents could not afford the tape deck until about 6 months later. So typing in the long routines from Atari User (Page 6) was fruitless as I had no place to store them!

 

Andy.

[mimo]

I remember having to wait until the XL range was imminent before my parents could afford a 16K 400 with 410.

I will have a look back through some old Atari magazines to get some prices when I get some time

[Ross PK]

How does 189 DM compare to £'s?

 

I got my 800XL in 1984 (maybe 1985) for £200. A few months later Curry's was doing a special offer, so we took it back and got a 800XL with a 1050 disc drive for £200.

 

I have plenty of magazines, so I could scan some of the prices over the ages if you'd like.

Edited January 21, 2008 by Ross PK

[Rybags]

Compute! magazine's ads were a good benchmark since they were US stores, and often carried both brands.

 

I'm fairly sure that before the Tramiels took over, the 800XL was never under the price of the C-64 on an ongoing basis.

 

Although by 1986 or so, I think even the 130XE had undercut the '64.

[carmel_andrews]

Easy way of looking at it is...in 1989 you could by an STFM (with built in disk drive) for the same price that americans were shelling out for the 810 drive bk in 1979 (if it was worked on 1 dollar to 1 gbp exchange)

 

the Xl and disk drive pkg that RossPK mentioned i saw advertised at both 179.99 and 129.99 (though i think my first 1050 i had was second hand)

[deathtrappomegranate]

In the UK, the Atari 800 was much more expensive than the C64.

[Ross PK]

Here's some ads to give you an idea, unfortunatley I only have ads from 1985 and one from 1986.

 

 

Jan/Feb 1985

 

 

Jan/Feb 1985

 

 

March/April 1985

 

 

May/June 1985

 

 

July/Aug 1985

 

 

Nov/Dec 1985

 

 

Sept/Oct 1986

Edited January 21, 2008 by Ross PK

[carmel_andrews]

I think we making the mistake of trying to compare Warners pricing structure with that of the tramiels...one must remember that by the time tramiel had Atari the market was already well developed plus the fact that tramiel pretty much ditched Warner's manufacturing practices in favour of his 'cheap and tacky' approach

 

What you must also remember is that when warner's originally launched the A800 the market had yet to be developed, so companies like Atari, CBM, Apple etc could charge whatever they wanted to, it wasn't until after the c64 was released that prices started to come down

 

Remember that the Atari VCS/2600 was originally put in at nearly $200, the lynx i think was £150 and the same goes for the Jag (which atari were'nt manufacturing)

[Ross PK]

I've just spotted in one of my magazines that the ST was priced at £749.99 back in 1985. Wow!

 

Thing is I don't think anyone knew about 16 bit systems back then, even until the late 80's.

[carmel_andrews]

And a little something our American friends don't realise...They were getting a better deal then European and British Atari users, as we were paying more for our kit then the americans were (it was still the case even during tramiels run at atari)

[Rybags]

The UK seemed to have prices which matched or exceeded the US, Pound for Dollar.

 

Which was rediculous considering the pound was about double the $US.

 

Here? Well, at times it was almost as bad as Europe - and like just about everywhere, the bargain prices came around the time everything was outdated and demand had all but dried up.

[Oswald]

Some C64 folks argue that the C64 was less expensive then Atari products. I can't really believe that.

 

1982 CES:

 

"The guys from Atari came by to look at it and said, 'They can't do that. It's impossible for the price.'"

 

(1982)

Atari 800 = $899.

c64= $595

 

"The Atari 400 and 800 were very similar in hardware terms, but were very expensive to build, which forced Atari to redesign their machine to be more cost effective. This resulted in the 600XL/800XL line"

 

"Aggressive pricing of the C64 is considered to be a major catalyst in the video game crash of 1983."

[twh/f2]

Hey Oswald,

 

it seems you are hunting me on the internet .... our path's are constantly crossing *g

 

but indeed. the C64 was designed to be an affordable 64k computer with a well balanced technology mix. It's like with the large phone network companies. Only competition made the market to move on and to reduce the costs.

 

and it is true. The Atari 800 was very expensive for a 48K computer. However this is far before the time I got my first Atari in 1987. So I could not know!

 

Of course I did not buy the Atari myself, it was my grandfather. Many, many years later I asked him, why he has chosen an Atari 130XE over the C64. He told me, that he saw more value in a computer with twice as much RAM for the same price. So obviously the Atari was equally or below the price of a C64 in the late-mid 80s.

 

grtx,

\twh::taos

 

p.s.: Oswald, next Breakpoint i spent you a beer for that many challenging internet-fights we two had *g

 

 

 

Some C64 folks argue that the C64 was less expensive then Atari products. I can't really believe that.

 

1982 CES:

 

"The guys from Atari came by to look at it and said, 'They can't do that. It's impossible for the price.'"

 

(1982)

Atari 800 = $899.

c64= $595

 

"The Atari 400 and 800 were very similar in hardware terms, but were very expensive to build, which forced Atari to redesign their machine to be more cost effective. This resulted in the 600XL/800XL line"

 

"Aggressive pricing of the C64 is considered to be a major catalyst in the video game crash of 1983."