Atarimania Forum

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.

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 !

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...

--
Atari Frog
http://www.atarimania.com

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

I know, I know, maybe I'm a little bit too demanding
Thanks for the welcome !

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.

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

Thanks a lot, though there's no hurry.

Cheers !

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

--
Atari Frog
http://www.atarimania.com

Are these numbers about the whole range of Atari computers, or only for the XL series ?

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

--
Atari Frog
http://www.atarimania.com

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...

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 ) 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)?

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.

--
Atari Frog
http://www.atarimania.com

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

Thanks for the information