Asda Advert - 10th November 1983

Asda - the UK supermarket chain founded in 1965 whose name is a contraction of ASquith and DAiries - is clearly not a microcomputer company, or even any sort of computer company whatsoever.

Its inclusion is warranted simply because it perfectly sums up how the home computer market in particular was driven by sales from non-threatening, non-technical outlets.

Asda wasn't alone - WHSmith was already well-established as a micro retailer, Woolworths and Boots the Chemist dabbled in it, and there were several well-known conventional electricals outlets like Rumbelows and Lasky's - but there's perhaps nowhere more down-to-earth than a supermarket, where you could pick up a Spectrum along with your potato waffles and frozen peas.

Mind you, there's evidence of questionable buying decisions, as neither of the other two micros on offer - Texas Instruments' TI-99/4A and Mattel's Aquarius - fared particularly well.

It's not hugely common in 2024 to find regular supermarkets selling actual computers, although Tesco dabbled briefly with its own Android tablet - the Hudl - between 2013 and 2015, selling over 500,000 of the devices^[1]. Asda itself, as of 2024, is also selling tablets with a couple of Amazon Fire models available from its online shop.