How many units were sold ?

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Elesias
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How many units were sold ?

Post by Elesias » Mon Oct 04, 2004 9:19 pm

I was wondering : How many 400, 800, 600XL, 800XL, etc... were sold in the world ? I tried to find some reliable information about that, but couldn't find anything.

Si quelqu'un sait combien d'Atari 400, 800, etc... ont été vendus pour chaque référence à travers le monde, je suis preneur de l'information. Merci d'avance.
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deathtrappomegranate
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Post by deathtrappomegranate » Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:04 pm

My understanding is that, including all 8-bit models from 400-XEGS, approximately 5 million units were sold worldwide.

Merci pour votre question, et bienvenue !
Atari Frog
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Post by Atari Frog » Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:11 pm

Hello,

Welcome to the boards ;-)

I'd say something like 5 to 7 million units worldwide though it's hard to know for sure... The 800XL probably sold the most, the 1200XL and 65XE the least. Don't know about the 800XE...

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Elesias
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Post by Elesias » Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:26 pm

Forgive me, but is it possible to get more accurate numbers for each computer ? 8)

I know, I know, maybe I'm a little bit too demanding ;)
Thanks for the welcome !
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deathtrappomegranate
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Post by deathtrappomegranate » Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:31 pm

I will try to get more accurate numbers, although it may be difficult.

I think that Atari Frog is correct, by and large.

Since the 800XE was only sold in Europe, and late in the life of the product line, I suspect that it sold in low numbers. I believe that it was most popular in Germany.

The 1200XL was only sold in America, and was only marketed for a short time, so relatively few were sold.

The 65XE enjoyed a brief period of popularity in the UK, but the 800XL was almost certainly the biggest seller.
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Elesias
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Post by Elesias » Mon Oct 04, 2004 10:50 pm

deathtrappomegranate wrote:I will try to get more accurate numbers, although it may be difficult.
Thanks a lot, though there's no hurry.

Cheers !
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Post by Atari Frog » Mon Oct 04, 2004 11:03 pm

I dunno whether approximate figures by country could help. These are really rough estimates, I have no idea whether this is realistic...

France: 70,000
UK: 600,000
Germany: 800,000
Benelux: 150,000
Western Europe (rest): 50,000
Poland: 400,000
Eastern Europe (rest): 200,000
Australia / New Zealand: 40,000
Mexico: 100,000
Canada: 350,000
USA: 3,200,000
Chile: 80,000
Rest: 40,000

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Elesias
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Post by Elesias » Mon Oct 04, 2004 11:06 pm

Are these numbers about the whole range of Atari computers, or only for the XL series ?
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Post by Atari Frog » Mon Oct 04, 2004 11:38 pm

The whole range but these are just very rough estimates coming from my demented mind so... handle with care :wink:

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Elesias
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Post by Elesias » Tue Oct 05, 2004 12:02 am

It's quite incredible to see how it's difficult to have reliable numbers.
But Atari is not alone : almost all computer brands are as fuzzy in this matter...
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Andre
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Post by Andre » Tue Oct 05, 2004 9:08 am

Elesias wrote:It's quite incredible to see how it's difficult to have reliable numbers.
But Atari is not alone : almost all computer brands are as fuzzy in this matter...
These numbers always have been kept secret by Atari and other companies. The intention was to hide any info of how buisness was running from their competitors. At least that's what I heard.

Hint: the former chief of Atari-Deutschland, Klaus Ollmann, has told his story (in German :roll:) at

http://www.atari-spielanleitungen.de/kl ... nnvcs.html

If you drop the webmaster of this site a line maybe he can ask Klaus Ollmann for the numbers you are interested in (at least for Germany)?
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Post by Atari Frog » Tue Oct 05, 2004 9:45 am

From what I was told, Germany and the Netherlands were the only two countries in Western Europe where Atari really did a great job. IIRC, the Atari 800XL was the computer of choice in many Dutch schools.

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AEX

400/800 USA Numbers

Post by AEX » Thu Nov 18, 2004 1:34 am

Guys,

Accurate numbers are hard to determine, but the data is possibly imbedded in internal Atari docs still to be uncovered. A Dataquest/IDC survey report says that Atari sold Approx. 2 Million Units (400/800) from '79 - '85 (when the last stocks were sold through) - Its very possible that this figure includes overseas sales as well - Again, all numbers are to be taken with a pinch of salt.

I agree the XL line probably sold the most units, but considering the unknown amount of XL components utilised in the XE range (canabilised from Factory XL's), and sales to Poland, Russia and other non EEC countries, I'd certainly say the XE sold a similar number worldwide.

Companies only tout numbers when they are doing well, and even then the marketing people make them inflated. Atari numbers are hard to come by.

Karl
www.atari-explorer.com
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Elesias
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Post by Elesias » Thu Nov 18, 2004 1:23 pm

Thanks for the information :wink:
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