September 25, 1986: Honeywell announced partnership discussions to join one of its computer operations with the Japanese firm NEC and France’s Groupe Bull. This consolidation was in part due to IBM’s large market size, controlling over 50% in 1986. According to a company official quoted in the New York Times, ”We can’t deal with computers anymore. We just want out.” The Honeywell announcement was one of the largest computer industry consolidations since General Electric sold its mainframe computer technology to Honeywell in 1970.
Sources: New York Times, ComputerHistory.org
Read more about Honeywell and IBM in our collection:
The software paradox : the rise and fall of the commercial software market
IBM : the rise and fall and reinvention of a global icon
Smarter than their machines : oral histories of pioneers in interactive computing