When did Digital Equipment Corporation go out of business?
Andrew Campbell
Updated on January 11, 2026
1998
Digital Equipment Corporation
| Industry | Computer hardware Computer software Computer services |
|---|---|
| Defunct | 1998 |
| Fate | Acquired by Compaq, after divestiture of major assets. |
| Successor | Compaq (1998–2002) Hewlett-Packard (2002–2015) HP Inc. and Hewlett Packard Enterprise (2015–present) |
| Headquarters | Maynard, Massachusetts, United States |
When did Compaq buy digital equipment?
Jan. 26, 1998
Compaq to buy DEC – Jan. 26, 1998. NEW YORK (CNNfn) – Compaq Computer Corp., seeking to expand into the lucrative enterprise computing business, agreed Monday to acquire Digital Equipment Corp. in a blockbuster deal worth $9.6 billion.
Who bought digital computer?
Compaq
Compaq to buy Digital for $9.6 billion.
Who bought Digital Equipment company?
Compaq Computer Corporation
Founded in 1957, the company employed more than 120,000 people worldwide at its peak in 1990 and earned more than $14 billion in revenue. It was bought by Compaq Computer Corporation in 1998.
Who is the founder of Digital Computer?
Charles Babbage
The English inventor Charles Babbage, however, is generally credited with having conceived the first automatic digital computer. During the 1830s Babbage devised his so-called Analytical Engine, a mechanical device designed to combine basic arithmetic operations with decisions based on its own computations.
Who bought Digital Equipment Corporation?
When was the Digital Equipment Corporation ( DEC ) founded?
Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), was a major American company in the computer industry. Founded in 1957 with a $70,000 loan, it became “the nation’s second-largest computer company, after IBM.”
When was Digital Equipment Corporation acquired by Compaq?
Its initial major impact was in minicomputers, but its later-introduced VAX and Alpha systems are still notable. DEC was acquired in June 1998 by Compaq, in what was at that time the largest merger in the history of the computer industry.
When did Digital Equipment go out of business?
By 1990 VAX sales had propelled Digital into the number-two computer sales position (behind IBM). However, Digital’s success throughout the 1980s did not continue in the next decade.
What kind of computer did Digital Equipment make?
Their success was only surpassed by another DEC product, the late-1970s VAX “supermini” systems that were designed to replace the PDP-11. Although a number of competitors had successfully competed with Digital through the 1970s, the VAX cemented the company’s place as a leading vendor in the computer space.
