Zeda Computers

Zeda Computers International was founded in 1974 by John McMullen.{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=April 20, 1980 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117344996/2-contacts-go-to-provo-firm/ | title=2 Contracts Go to Provo Firm | journal=The Daily Herald | location=Provo, Utah | page=20 | via=Newspapers.com}} Beginning life as a electronics research and development laboratory, with few years later the company expanded to full-time production and marketing of computer systems and electronic word processors from within its 7,000-square-foot headquarters. Expansion was hastened after the company earned a contract to design a computer terminal and a data buffer system for a computer peripheral manufacturer out of San Jose, California, in the mid-1970s.{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=November 8, 1979 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117345450/provo-computer-company-expands/ | title=Provo Computer Company Expands | journal=The Daily Herald | location=Provo, Utah | page=29 | via=Newspapers.com}}{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=November 8, 1979 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117345524/computer-firm-expands/ | title=Computer Firm Expands | journal=The Salt Lake Tribune | page=30 | via=Newspapers.com}} In 1976, the company established an overseas sales office in Nottingham.{{cite journal | last=Brett | first=Clive | date=June 7, 1984 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117345083/zedas-turnover-tops-a-million/ | title=Zeda's turnover tops a million | journal=Evening Post | location=Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England | page=11 | via=Newspapers.com}}

After Zeda released its first microcomputers in late 1977, the company's revenues soon rose to US$1.5 million. The company's Z80-based all-in-one, the Zeda 580, sold especially well and prompted Zeda's expansion into a 1,500-square-foot building adjacent to its Provo headquarters to where they moved their marketing department.{{cite book | last=Nadeau | first=Michael | date=2002 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WXZNAAAACAAJ | title=Collectible Microcomputers | edition=Illustrated | series=Schiffer Book for Collectors | page=156 | publisher=Schiffer Publishing | isbn=9780764316005 | via=Google Books}} They released a companion dumb terminal, the Zeda 550, in December 1979, allowing two users to operate the computer at once with the computer's special operating system,{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=December 6, 1979 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117345562/zeda-computers-open-house-continues/ | title=Zeda Computers Open House Continues Until 7 Tonight | journal=The Daily Herald | location=Provo, Utah | page=21 | via=Newspapers.com}} InfiNet.{{cite journal | last=Fox | first=Tom | date=January 1981 | url=https://archive.org/details/InterfaceAge198201/page/n83/ | title=Zeda | journal=Interface Age | publisher=McPheters, Wolfe & Jones | volume=7 | issue=1 | page=82 | via=the Internet Archive}}

Zeda had by 1980 dealer networks in the Western United States, England, Australia, and the South Pacific. That year's summer, the company earned two additional contracts from dealers in Portland, Oregon, and Rantoul, Illinois, to distribute $5.7 million worth of Zeda's 580 systems.{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=April 26, 1980 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117345532/area-business-tradewinds/ | title=Area Business Tradewinds | journal=The Salt Lake Tribune | page=56 | via=Newspapers.com}} The computer topped $1 million in domestic sales in August 1981;{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=October 22, 1981 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117345466/zeda-co-announces-expansion/ | title=Zeda Co. Announces Expansion | journal=Orem-Geneva Times | page=6 | via=Newspapers.com}} in the United Kingdom, the company topped {{GBP}}1 million in sales turnover in 1984. Its Brighton sales office staffed 40 that year. The branch was commissioned by the Peterborough Building Society to transform the bank's Westgate branch into having a computerized open office floor plan.{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=March 8, 1984 | url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/117345147/computer-gives-personal-touch/ | title=Computer gives personal touch | journal=Evening Post | location=Nottingham, Nottinghamshire, England | page=11 | via=Newspapers.com}}

{{Expand section|date=January 2023}}

• Zeda Computer System{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=November 1978 | url=https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_computerDe_151795926/page/178/ | title=Video Computer Stands Alone, as Intelligent Terminal, or RJE Station | journal=Computer Design | volume=17 | issue=11 | page=178 | via=the Internet Archive}}
• Zeda-80{{cite journal | last=Staff writer | date=April 12, 1978 | url=https://archive.org/details/bitsavers_ElectronicignV26N0819780412_115831197/page/150/ | title=µC mainframe includes control panel | journal=Electronic Design | publisher=Hayden Publishing | volume=26 | issue=8 | page=150 | via=the Internet Archive}}
• Zeda 520
• Zeda 550
• Zeda 580

{{reflist|colwidth=30em}}

Category:1974 establishments in Utah

Category:American companies established in 1974

Category:Companies based in Provo, Utah

Category:Computer companies established in 1974

Category:Defunct computer companies of the United States

Category:Defunct computer companies of the United Kingdom

Category:Defunct computer hardware companies

Category:Defunct computer systems companies