1530/1531 Datasette Unit - How many made?

[Mike]

Sales figures is what settles this, not distant memories.

Sure, go ahead. Try to find some reliable sales figures for tape drives and disk drives (note the 22 to 30 million figure of the C64 is likely wrong).

[16KVIC20]

I always thought the sales of the C64 was more like 17 million.

[r.cade]

Stop pushing that old PageTable article. I run the serial database, and that is just wrong.

I've done the same analysis on the same information I can get to 20 million easily.

326298 A 337532
326298 B n/a
326298 C 99547
326298 TOTAL 437079

250407 1238489 (ignored, they are probably in numbers below)
250407 A 1247737 and F138546 and CS112159 = 1498442
250407 B 1203526 and A62352 and CS62307 and DE55519 and HKC1211455 and S66259 = 2661418
250407 C 1218502 and HKC962606 and UA167951 = 2349059
250407 TOTAL 6508919


250425 1323460 and HKC922576 and JA054265 and UA143461 (ignored, they are in numbers below)
250425 A 1069758 and HKC701441 and UA130409 = 1901608
250425 B 971770 and HKC266130 = 1277900
250425 C 063708 HKC493730 = 557438
250425 TOTAL 3736946

250466 530806 and HKC366795 (ignored, they are in numbers below)
250466 A 438001 and HKC243358 = 681359
250466 B 407179 and HKC55313 = 462492
250466 C HKC176609 = 176609
250466 TOTAL 1143851

250469 (ignored, they are likely in numbers below)
250469 A 1996933 and HKC386449 and HKM035641 = 1996933 = 2419023
250469 B 2326852 and HKC251969 and HKM437319 = 2326852 = 3016140
250469 3 1058246 and HKC421629 and UAL020353 = 1058246 = 1500228
250469 4 2012879 and HKC1126178 = 2012879 = 3139057
250469 TOTAL 7394910 or 10074448

KU-14194HB CS14017 and F39658 = 53675


Counts
326298 286/437079 0.06%
250407 819/6508919 0.01%
250425 504/3736946 0.01%
250466 147/1143851 0.01%

250469 577/7394910 0.0078%
or
250469 577/10074448 0.0057%

KU 110/53675 0.2%

[16KVIC20]

Interesting r.cade. At the risk of appearing thick, what exactly are we looking at here? Is this basically a summary of the different types of serial numbers and the amounts within that range?

Can you tell from serial numbers when a particular C64 was likely to have been made?

Do you also have serial number details for disk drives or datasette units?

My C64 is SER.No.U.K.B.2337###, any information on that date wise, greatly received.

My VIC 20 is SER.No.WG B 165### - Cost reduced unit.

[orion70]

R.cade, that article is nine years old but looks quite documented and having solid arguments. I second 16KVIC20's request to better elaborate your counting method based on S/N.

Also, my apologies for having extended to the whole continent - and possibly the US - the simple fact that every single Commodore machine in Italy was sold in bundle with a datassette, and almost nobody had a 1541 if not after some time from buying a Commodore (64 or 128 of course) in the first place. Honestly, I didn't know there were places where nerds were so rich to buy a super expensive 1541 by default (just joking eh ). My experience with friends and relatives is: C2N only, no 1541 until the very end of the Eighties.

If the 12 mil. figure for the 64, and my assumption about the datassette being bundled with the machine, are wrong, so the whole house of cards falls miserably, and I don't have any idea about sales figures now

[16KVIC20]

Yes, I agree with you Orion70. The 1541 was a late 80s, early 90s thing mostly here in the UK too. Put simply, there was not a sufficient advantage in owning one, especially when one considers the cost involved and the general lack of commercial software.

The machine that nearly always had a disk drive attached was the BBC Micro, which, was superior in almost every respect and reduced loading times to a second or two on many occasions. That is where the smart money went, a system that could properly use a disk drive. Many school children would have seen the BBC loading from disk drive at school, and the C64 alongside, and would have come to the conclusion that a 1541 was simply not worth it. Side by side the difference is painful to watch.

I still reckon that the C2N sold north of 10 Million units, and I'd wager that is probably a good 6-8 million more than the 1541.