Corona Data Systems

{{Infobox company

|name = Corona Data Systems

|logo = File:Corona Data Systems logo.svg

|type =

|genre =

|fate = Acquired

|predecessor =

|foundation = Westlake Village, California, United States ({{Start date|1982}})

|defunct = {{end date|1993}}

|founder = Robert Harp

|location_city = Westlake Village, California

|location_country = USA

|locations =

|area_served = Worldwide

|key_people =

|industry = Computer hardware

|products = desktops portables

|services =

|revenue =

|operating_income =

|net_income =

|assets =

|equity =

|owner = Daewoo

|parent =

|divisions =

|subsid =

|homepage =

|footnotes =

|intl =

}}

Corona Data Systems, later renamed Cordata, was an American personal computer company. It was one of the earliest IBM PC compatible computer system companies. Manufacturing was primarily done by Daewoo of Korea, which became a major investor in the company and ultimately the owner.{{Citation | last = Welch | first = Mark | title = Corona Data Systems Gets New Backing | newspaper = InfoWorld | pages = 13 | date = December 2, 1985 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=My8EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22Corona+data+systems%22&pg=PA13 | access-date = February 28, 2011 }}{{Citation | last = Bates | first = James | title = Cordata Gets a Seoul Man as CEO : Daewoo Trouble-Shooter Hopes to Put IBM-PC Clone-Maker Back on Track | newspaper = Los Angeles Times | date = June 2, 1987 | url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-06-02-fi-4289-story.html | access-date = February 28, 2011 }}{{Citation | title = Cordata's Founder Resigns in Dispute With Korean Owners | newspaper = Los Angeles Times | date = August 13, 1987 | url = https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-08-13-fi-1031-story.html | access-date = February 28, 2011 }}

History

File:Mch2022-computermuseum-corona.jpg

Founded in mid-1981 by Robert Harp, who co-founded Vector Graphic. Along with Harp, the firm was co-founded by Robert Steven Kramarz who at age 31 was employee #1 and General Manager. Daniel R. Carter was named as CEO a year later. By 1984, Corona employed 280 people. In mid-1985 the firm received fresh capital from the Daewoo Group of South Korea who acquired a controlling interest.{{Citation | last = Bartimo | first = Jim | title = Q&A: Robert Harp 'PC Compatibility is a great equalizer' | newspaper = InfoWorld | pages = 46 | date = July 30, 1984 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=Dy8EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22corona%20data%20systems%22%20founded&pg=PA46 | access-date = February 28, 2011 }}

Corona Data System's first products were 5MB and 10MB external hard drives with interface cards and software to connect them to the Apple II and the IBM PC. The drives were sold under the brand name Starfire (Starfire 5 and Starfire 10). The original Corona PC was later released in 1983.{{Citation | title = Corona advertisement | newspaper = InfoWorld | pages = 50 | date = July 18, 1983 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=xi8EAAAAMBAJ&q=%22corona%20data%20systems%22%20infoworld%201983&pg=PA50 | access-date = February 28, 2011 }} The company went on to develop and release additional desktop and portable PCs corresponding to the development of the Intel x86 architecture through the 80386, as well a laser printer (the LP300) and an integrated desktop publishing system known as Intellipress. The latter offered either Aldus PageMaker or Ventura Publisher as software bundles. The laser printer was based on the Canon CX engine, but unlike competing products from HP and Apple, the printer's raster image processor was on an interface card inside the PC, which partially used the PC's processor for image processing thus reducing product cost.

=IBM Lawsuit=

Corona claimed "Our systems run all software that conforms to IBM PC programming standards. And the most popular software does."{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gy4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA41 | title=Pick Up Where IBM Leaves Off. | work=InfoWorld | date=1984-02-27 | access-date=18 January 2015 | pages=41 | type=advertisement}} In early 1984, IBM sued Corona and Eagle Computer for copyright violation of the IBM PC BIOS. Corona settled with IBM by agreeing to cease infringement.{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gy4EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA15 | title=IBM wins disputes over PC copyrights | work=InfoWorld | date=1984-02-27 | access-date=18 January 2015 | author=Caruso, Denise | pages=15}}

=Corona PPC-400=

File:Cordata PPC-400-25-200.jpg]]Corona Portable PC Model PPC-400, arguably the most notable Corona computer, was introduced in 1984. The PPC-400 was remarkable for its elegant and clear screen fonts.{{Cite web | title = Corona Portable PPC-400 | date = 16 March 2020 | url = https://fontstruct.com/fontstructions/show/1731454/corona-ppc-400 | access-date = February 12, 2021 }} The desktop version was the PC-400.{{Cite web | title = Corona Portable PPC-400 | publisher = The Freeman PC Museum | url = http://www.thepcmuseum.net/details.php?RECORD_KEY%28museum%29=id&id%28museum%29=613 | access-date = February 28, 2011 }}

=Cordata=

After Daewoo acquired a 70% share in the company, Corona Data Systems was renamed Cordata in 1986 in order to reflect diversification and to try to distance itself from identification as just a "PC clone" manufacturer. Harp resigned in 1987, accusing Daewoo of transforming the company into a paper-only entity for the purpose of loss write-off. According to Harp, Cordata had posted $20M losses in the previous year despite the $40M investment made by Daewoo since 1985.[https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1987-08-13-fi-1031-story.html Cordata's Founder Resigns in Dispute With Korean Owners] Daewoo phased out the Cordata name in 1993.{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=February 18, 1993 | url=https://techmonitor.ai/technology/south_korean_company_merges_french_and_dutch_companies | title=South Korean Companies Merge French and Dutch Companies | journal=Computer Business Review | publisher=New Statesman Media Group | archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20220216174650/https://techmonitor.ai/technology/south_korean_company_merges_french_and_dutch_companies | archivedate=February 16, 2022}}

=In Popular Culture=

In the first season of the TV series, Halt and Catch Fire, a fictional drama depicting the birth of the personal computer industry in the 1980s, the pivot of company Cardiff Electric resembles both the history of Corona Data Systems and Compaq. Like Cardiff Electric's fictional pivot to become a PC manufacturer, Corona's actual history included founding by two individuals: a computer systems expert (Harp) and a marketing/sales executive (Kramarz), and design of a portable IBM PC-compatible. Although Cardiff Electric, like Compaq and unlike Corona, successfully fought IBM's accusations of copyright infringement with clean room designed BIOS. Also like Cardiff, Corona Data Systems in 1985 sold a majority share to a conglomerate (Daewoo Group).

Competitors

Early IBM PC compatible computer system companies:{{Citation | last = Watt | first = Peggy | title = Compatible Makers Face IBM | newspaper = InfoWorld | pages = 23–24 | date = December 17, 1984 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=rC4EAAAAMBAJ&q=Compaq+Columbia+Data+Products+Eagle+Computer+corona+IBM&pg=PA23 | access-date = February 28, 2011 }}