Philco Corporation

Philco was an early pioneer in making the first commercially available germanium transistors, though initially these were not capable of switching much above audio frequencies and had to await Philco’s 1955 development of the surface barrier transistor before they could be realistically considered for high speed digital work.

It is not surprising that it was Philco itself that delivered what is likely the earliest commercially available transistorized computer, the Transac S-2000, just two years later in 1957.

Philco marketed software compatible computers (the Philco, 210, 211, 212) before being purchased by Ford Motor Company in 1961. Philco became a division of Ford, but the computer side of the Philco company didn’t survive the move.