Design Management Group

Bowmar calculators

Bowmar introduced its first calculator, the pocket-sized Bowmar 901B, in 1971.

Originally a producer of LED displays, Bowmar decided to move up the value chain to produce its own calculator. The calculator market soon took off, and Bowmar found itself one of the leading suppliers in the US.

In the meantime, the big semiconductor companies, led by Texas Instruments, started to take an interest in this new market, and they too started to introduce their own models.

Bowmar found it increasingly difficult to compete in the ensuing price war and decided to invest in its own semiconductor plant to ensure supply and reduce cost.

This proved to be the final straw as Bowmar's losses grew, and it was soon forced to apply for bankruptcy protection.

Bowmar is cited by Teece (1986) as an example of an innovator/pioneer which failed to capture any long term value from its innovation. In Teece's analysis, the company had a weak 'appropriability regime' (i.e. IP protection) and lacked the 'complementary assets' to support volume manufacture

Further information

• Teece, D. (1986) "Profiting from technological innovation: implications for integration, collaboration, licensing and public policy", Research Policy Vol 15, No 6, pp 285-305
• Ball, G. and Flamm, B. Pioneering calculator companies: Bowmar, Vintage calculators web museum, www.vintagecalculators.com
• Bowmar 901B, Datamath Calculator Museum, www.datamath.org
• Museum of pocket calculating devices www.calculators.de

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