Hardware Heaven: FM Towns
We take a brief look at Fujitsu’s interesting home computer
» MANUFACTURER: Fujitsu » YEAR: 1989 » COST: ¥398,000 (launch, Model 2), ¥55,000+/£410+ (today, Model 2 boxed), ¥20,000+/£150+ (today, Model 2 unboxed)
One of the keys to launching a successful business is to identify a consumer demand that isn’t being fulfilled, and respond to it with a suitable product. That’s what Fujitsu aimed to do with the FM Towns, a computer that attempted to differentiate its focus from that of NEC’S market-leading PC-98 series of computers. Using its FM-R50 Ibm-compatible PC as a base, Fujitsu marketed the FM Towns as a “hyper media personal computer”, with graphics and audio technology that vastly outstripped what could be achieved by NEC’S computer. The machine’s distinctive design featured a vertically-mounted CD-ROM drive on the front of the tower, highlighting a key selling point.
While the system’s strong technology ensured that it had fans, as well as some highly impressive games, the system never became as big of a success as Fujitsu had hoped. The computer was very expensive for home use, and it was competing in the same market sector as the very capable
Sharp X68000, which had arrived to the market sooner. NEC maintained its iron grip amongst professional users until the mid-nineties. As time went on, the FM Towns line became more focused on PC compatibility, before eventually being discontinued in 1997.