The Sanyo PHC-25 is a home computer released in Japan in 1982 by the electronics company Sanyo.[9][10][11] PHC is an acronym for Personal Home Computer.[12]
It is grouped with the lower-end PHC-10 and PHC-20 models[4][12] which were announced at the same time,[4] and with which it shares the same styling.
The PHC-25 came with Sanyo Basic v1.3, an eighty instruction BASIC dialect.[9] A few emulators exist for this system.[13][14]
Distribution, marketing and reception
Japan
The PHC-25 was announced in Japan in mid-1982 with a price of ¥69,800.[1]
France
The PHC-25 was announced in the French press alongside the PHC-20 and PHC-8000 in late 1982.[15] It later sold there for 2950 FF.[2][3]
In response to criticism about the lack of available software, the magazine Votre Ordinateur estimated that there would have been around fifty software cassettes available there as of early 1984.[16]
The PHC-25 was used for some educational courses in France.[17][18]
Cancelled launches
United Kingdom
It was announced in late 1982 that the PHC-25 would launch in the UK for £150 in January 1983, alongside the PHC-10 and PHC-20.[4]
However, while all three made it as far as being reviewed[19] in Your Computer magazine in October, the same publication later reported that they had "disappeared again in November"[5] and there was no further sign of them on the UK market.
United States
The PHC-25 was presented in the US at the 1983[11]CES with a planned price of $199.[6][7] However, Sanyo later decided against selling the PHC-25 there due to cutthroat price competition in the low-end US computer market at the time.[8]
Technical specifications
The PHC-25 had the following technical specifications:[9][20]
^ ab"Micom News". 月刊マイコン ('Monthly Microcomputer'). June 1982. p. 496. [Product Number, Standard Price, Release Date / PHC-25, 69,800 yen, June 25 1982]
^ ab"Essai Materiel: Le Sanyo PHC 25 : un petit format qui a de la mémoire". L'Ordinateur Individuel ["EDITION INTERNATIONALE, L'Ordinateur Individuel en Belgique"]. November 1983. prix: 2 950 FF ttc [2950 French Francs, including tax [explicitly quoted as being in French Francs (FF) in Belgian edition of magazine]]
^ ab"Au Banc d'Essai: Un Japonais familial LE PHC-25 de Sanyo" [On the Test Bench: A Japanese Family: Sanyo's PHC-25]. Micro Ordinateurs. France: S.E.C.F. Editions Radio, 42, rue Jacob, 75006 Paris. May 1983. p. 49. Prix indicatif: 2 350 F, taxes comprises. [Recommended price: 2,350 Francs including tax]
^ abcd"Three New Micros from Sanyo". Popular Computing Weekly. 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
^ ab"Editorial". Your Computer [UK]. UK: Business Press International Ltd. 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?
^ abAhl, David H.; Staples, Betsy. "1983 Winter Consumer Electronics Show [CES]". Creative Computing. United States: Ahl Computing (Ziff-Davis). Sanyo was showing two prototype units, the PHC 20 for $99 and the PHC 25 for $199.
^ abDavid H. Ahl (January 1984). "IFIP, SICOB and PCW". Creative Computing. United States: Ahl Computing (Ziff-Davis). 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.
^"Pour noël ou le jour de l'an" [For Christmas or New Year's Day]. Micro 7. Rédaction et Publicité 6, rue Ancelle 92525 Neuilly-Cedex. December 1982. p. 19. La fin de l'année a vu l'arrivée sur le marché de la micro-informatique de nouveaux produits Sanyo. Déjà présentés, ils seront commercialisés en décembre ou au plus tard début janvier 83. Le PHC20 [et] le PHC 25 [et] le PHC 8000 et son module d'extension, le PHC 8010 [The end of the year saw the arrival of new Sanyo products on the microcomputer market. Already presented, they will be available in December [1982] or at the latest in early January 1983. The PHC20 [and] the PHC 25 [and] the PHC 8000 and its expansion module, the PHC 8010]
^"Votre Courrier: Des Cassettes Pour PHC 25". Votre Ordinateur. Groupe Tests [Paris]. March 1984. [Reader says] Mais j'aimerais savoir s'il existe vraiment des cassettes pour le PHC. J'ai déjà tout essayé, les adresses de revues, mon vendeur, rien [..Response..] ...lorsque nous annonçons une programmathèque de quarante, cinquante, voire soixante programmes, nous les avons vus, touchés, ou nous nous sommes fait confirmer par plusieurs sources [..] Le nombre de cassettes théoriquement disponibles doit avoisiner maintenant la cinquantaine. [[Reader says] But I would like to know if there really are cassettes for the PHC. I have already tried everything, the addresses of magazines, my seller, nothing [..Response..] ...when we announce a program library of forty, fifty, even sixty programs, we have seen them, touched them, or we have had confirmation from several sources [..] The number of cassettes theoretically available must now be around fifty.]
^"Clubs & Formation". Micro 7. June 1985. L'Ecole et la Vie, organisme de formation permanente, assure un stage d'initiation à l'informatique [..] Ces stages se déroulent à Marvejols (Lozère) sur Sanyo PHC 25, TRS 80, M05, Apple Ile [L’Ecole et la Vie, a continuing education organization, provides an introductory computer training course [..] These courses take place in Marvejols (Lozère) [in France] on Sanyo PHC 25, TRS 80, M05, Apple IIe]
^"SVM Pratique". Science et Vie Micro. July 1985. p. 124. [section 'Les stages'] La maison des jeunes et de culture de Pamiers (Ariège) organise un stage d'initiation à l'informatique et d'activités [..] Micro-ordinateurs utilisés : PHC 25 de Sanyo, Apple Ile et Thomson TO7. [[section 'Internships'] The youth and cultural center of Pamiers (Ariège) [in France] is organizing an introductory computer and activities course [..] Microcomputers used: PHC 25 from Sanyo, Apple Ile and Thomson TO7.]
