Alfaskop

Alfaskop was a brand, developed in Sweden by Standard Radio & Telefon AB (SRT) and applied to data terminals and later IBM-compatible PCs.

In 1971, SRT provided the core technology for Stansaab AS, a joint venture with Saab and the state-owned Swedish Development Company.

[7] Accurately predicting convergence between telephony and data technologies, EIS instructed the Alfaskop group to begin working on a design for Ericsson's first PC – the EPC, which was released 16 months later in 1984.

[4] Following market difficulties in the United States, particularly with a disappointing launch of its PC, Ericsson decided to abandon its "paperless office" strategy.

[8] These terminals made interaction with computers much easier than with earlier punched card or paper tape interfaces.

By 1989, they were showing the "Alfaskop Workgroup System" comprising 80386-based servers, 80286-based desktops and Ethernet or Token Ring networking.

Reflecting the profit contribution made by Alfaskop (other product ranges at Stansaab/Datasaab were losing money), Ericsson invested 40 million kronor in the manufacturing facility at Järfälla outside Stockholm.

[7] Ericsson had predicted that their Eritex workstation comprising a telex and data terminal would take over from Alfaskop but demand continued with 100,000 units sold by 1983 with annual sales climbing above 25,000.

[7] From 1990, Nokia Data encouraged the development of several franchise partners to drive sales of PCs and network technologies.