Business Week
December 19, 1983
WHY SANTA'S BAG WILL BE SHORT ON HOME COMPUTERS

SECTION: MARKETING; Pg. 66

EXCITED BY DEMAND. 
Ironically, instead of stalling demand, these events seem to have whetted consumer 
appetites. To sell its remaining inventory of 500,000 model 99/4A computers, TI 
dropped the price so that it sells for less than $50. "Texas Instruments' dropping 
out stimulated a tremendous amount of interest in computers," says Frederick A. 
Shimp, senior buyer of electronics for K mart Corp. The giant retailer sold its 
entire stock of 60,000 99/4As five days after TI dropped the price. Since then, K 
mart has sold 30,000 more and reordered another 100,000, which it put on sale in 
early December. "I don't think they'll last but a couple of hours," Shimp predicts. 
Excited by such high demand, TI is expected to continue manufacturing the 99/4A 
computer well into December.