The Sanyo PHC-10 is a small, battery-operated microcomputer produced by Sanyo. It was announced in mid-1982 alongside the similarly-styled PHC-20 and PHC-25[1] and is the cheapest and most basic model of the three.
Technical details
The PHC-10 is a basic battery-operated training machine with an inbuilt single-line 16-character LCD display and a limited integer-only implementation of BASIC (Tiny BASIC).[2] It includes 4 kB of ROM (within the CPU), 2 kB of RAM expandable to 4 kB and 56 keys.[5]
It shares the same basic dimensions (51 x 160 x 300 mm)[5] as the PHC-20 and PHC-25 along with similar styling.
The PHC-10 is based around the μPD7901G[5] microcontroller designed by NEC.[6] The μPD7901G integrates ROM storage (for the Tiny BASIC implementation) and 128 bytes of RAM and interfaces directly with a keyboard, such that it only requires the further addition of an LCD controller and external RAM to turn it into a pocket computer.[7]
The PHC-10 includes no external outputs whatsoever,[4][5] omitting any form of external TV or video display signal. It also lacks the ability to save programs to cassette[8][5] or in any other manner, meaning they will be lost when its batteries expire.[4]
Doubt had been expressed as to whether the PHC-10 ever made it to market at all.[8] However, advertisements featuring clearance or secondhand examples appeared in Japanese publications[9] as late as 1986[10] and, as of January 2025, there were at least two examples known to exist.[4]
In the UK, Sanyo announced that the PHC-10 would go on sale for £60 in early 1983, alongside the PHC-20 and PHC-25.[11] However, Your Computer magazine- which had reviewed all three in October 1982-[2] later noted they had "disappeared again in November"[3] with no indication given that they ever went on sale there.
Sanyo did not attempt to market the PHC-10 in the United States[12] (unlike the PHC-20 and PHC-25 which Sanyo announced in the US but later withdrew before they went on sale there).[13][14] Although it was exhibited at the US-based CES show in January 1983, it was reported that the PHC-10 wasn't intended for sale in that country and no US price was given.[12]
References
^ ab"Micom News". 月刊マイコン ('Monthly Microcomputer'). June 1982. p. 496. [Product Number, Standard Price, Release Date / PHC-10, 24,800 yen, May 25 1982]
^ abc"Review [Joint review, PHC-10 sections]". Your Computer [UK]. October 1982. pp. 24, 25, 27. PHC-10 is a battery-powered £60 ... training computer [with] single-line [16-character LCD,] no [TV output,] ... no potential for expansion [..] excellent...keyboard, but a maximium RAM of only 4K. [..] major draw-back is the 4K Tiny Basic. With less than 2K of user RAM, and a very limited range of commands, the PHC-10 would be restrictive even for a beginner. [..][..] can only handle integers [..] also produces [limited 'beep' sound]
^ ab"Editorial". Your Computer [UK]. November 1984. p. 41. Remember Sanyo's enigmatic PHC range which appeared in October 1982 [issue in which PHC-10, 20 and 25 were reviewed] and disappeared again in November?
^ abcdHere Be Dragons (21 January 2025). "[PHC-10 BlueSky post from volunteer at Centre for Computing History]". Archived from the original on 6 September 2025. [First two images show very yellowed PHC-10] What I wasn't expecting was no outputs at all. Not even a tape output. Or power input. You have one program, and it dies when your batteries die. [..] I did eventually get one in better condition. [Third image shows another PHC-10 with less yellowing than the first]
^ abcdefghij""New Products [..] PHC-10, PHC-20, PHC-25, PHC-8000" [ PHC-10 details column ]". I/O (in Japanese). June 1982. p. 365. [PHC-10, CPU: μPD7901G, ROM: 4KB (within the CPU), RAM: 2KB (expandable up to 4KB) [..] 56 keys [..] 16 digit LCD [..] [All marked as absent for cassette, video, printer interface and memory backup] Power supply: Manganese battery [..] Tiny BASIC, Power consumption: 0.05W, Size: 51 x 160 x 300mm [identical to PHC-20 and PHC-25 dimensions in next column], Weight (g): 620]
^"International newsletter: Japanese microcomputer uses silicon software"(PDF). Electronics. McGraw-Hill. 20 October 1981. p. 67. Archived from the original(PDF) on 23 August 2025. Nippon Electric Co. [NEC's] low-power complementary-MOS microcomputer that includes a tiny Basic interpreter in 5-K bytes of [ROM] and 128 bytes of [RAM] on chip. [..] The new μPD7901G interfaces directly with a keyboard so that the addition of [an LCD] controller and external memory for the user's programs turns it into a pocket computer. It is also suitable for industrial applications because of the ease of writing software.
^ abHere Be Dragons (20 June 2020). "[PHC-10 Twitter post from volunteer at Centre for Computing History]". Archived from the original on 20 June 2020. [Images of yellowed-with-age PHC-10 uploaded by author interspersed with text] [PHC-10] until recently, I had seen just two photos of and was convinced was never actually sold. [..] The rest disappeared into obscurity. Especially the Sanyos. [..] [On PHC-10...] There's not even the ability to save to tape.
^"[Tmd Systems advertisement]". Micom BASIC Magazine (in Japanese). March 1984. p. 40. [This month's specials, shelf-off items and second-hand items [..] Sanyo PHC-10 [Handheld/Portable] computer List Price 24,800 Yen... Special 9,800 Yen]
^"Cat Japan Telephone Shopping". I/O (in Japanese). March 1986. p. 388. [Cat Japan [is] a second-hand shop [..] You can buy used computers over the phone [..] Clearance of Stock! [..] Sanyo PHC-10... ¥5,000]
^"Three New Micros from Sanyo". Popular Computing Weekly. 4 November 1982. Archived from the original on 26 March 2024. Sanyo will launch three new microcomputers in the UK in January 1983. [..] PHC-25 is the most advanced. It will be priced at £150. [..] PHC-20, to cost around £100 [..] PHC10, planned for £60
^ abJohn Dvorak (31 January 1983). "Inexpensive home computers highlight winter CES". InfoWorld. Archived from the original on 10 September 2025. Three [Sanyo] models were shown [..] The PHC 10 [..] won't be released in this country [the United States], and no price was available. [..] The PHC 20 [costs] $99 [plus] a more expensive version, the PHC-25
^David H. Ahl (January 1984). "IFIP, SICOB and PCW". Creative Computing. p. 148. Another small machine we saw previously at CES is the Sanyo PHC-25. [..] We were told it would not be marketed in the U.S. because of the cutthroat price competition at that end of the market.
^Arielle Emmett (February 1984). "Why Japanese Computers Aren't Selling in America". Personal Computing. Hayden. p. 237. [Sanyo] had planned to market a home computer known as the PHC 20 series in the U.S., but pulled the machine out before it even hit the dealer shelves, according to Ron Milos, marketing manager for Sanyo.
