| Computer Transceiver Systems, Inc. | |
| Type: | Public |
| Industry: | Computer |
| Products: | Execuport |
| Founded: | in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, United States |
| Hq Location: | Paramus, New Jersey (1970–1987) |
| Fate: | Acquired by Vertex Industries in 1987 following Chapter 11 bankruptcy; spun off and acquired by Mortgage Plus Equity and Loan Corporation in 1998 |
| Founder: | Allen G. Jacobson |
Computer Transceiver Systems, Inc. (CTSI) was an American computer company active from 1968 to 1998. It manufactured a wide range of portable data terminals, portable computers, and printers for microcomputers under the Execuport name. It was originally based in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey, soon relocating to Paramus, New Jersey, where it spent most of its independent existence.
Computer Transceiver Systems, Inc. (CTSI), was founded in 1968 by Allen G. Jacobson in Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.[1] [2] While managing the company, Jacobson was also a volunteer pilot for the Civil Air Patrol.[3] [4] Between 1968 and June 1969, the company filed its initial public offering with the SEC.[5] The company's first product line was the Execuport, the company's brand of high-speed portable teletypes and terminals that were used to remote into the mainframe and minicomputers of the time.[6] The Execuport was developed in part by Jacobson and introduced in 1969.[7] The first units of the Execuport were produced in mid-1969 from the company's production facilities in Upper Saddle River. The plot of land on which the production facilities rested also housed the company's research and development laboratories and executive offices. Production of the Execuports was initially a more amateur affair before CTSI set up assembly lines for their manufacture in around July 1969.
In the spring of 1970, CTSI moved its entire base of operations to Paramus, New Jersey, occupying a 41,000-square-foot (3809 m2) building leased from Philips Norelco.[8] [9] The move to Paramus was completed in mid-1971; with it came a corporate reorganization that saw several new locals enter the executive team.[10] In May 1972, the company partnered with North American Corporation to form a joint venture, Computer Transceiver Leasing Systems, which purchased and leased computer terminals to various corporate buyers.[11]
CTSI faced losses of over 302,400 in 1971 and $473,000 for the fiscal year 1972.[12] The company reported its first profitable year in 1973, the netting income of over $119,400 on sales of $2.66 million (up from $1.76 million in 1972).[13] This was following a marginal increase in share price and the sale of 550 units of Execuport Model 1200 terminals to Litton Industries in late 1972 worth $1 million.[14] [15] Said deal with Litton was part of a contract that allowed Litton to purchase up to $15 million worth of Execuport terminals through to 1977.[16] [17] CTSI's stock valuation increased apace from 1973 to at least 1977.[18] [19] [20] The company remained largely profitable as well, netting over $120,000 between February and August 1976 and $182,700 in profit between the same period in 1977. Following high executive employment churn around the turn of 1978, the company reported their first quarterly loss since 1972 in late 1978.[21]
The company reported roughly $6 million in sales in 1981 and 1982. Their competitors around this time included market leader Texas Instruments (with their Silent 700 series of portable terminals), Teleram (with their Portabubble series of glass terminals), and 3M (with their Whipser Writer 1000 portable teletype).[22] In 1982, the company beat out IBM, General Electric, and AT&T for the supply of networking hardware and terminals to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.[23]
In 1983, CTSI introduced the Execuport XL and Execuport XL+, a line of portable computers aimed at the high-end personal computer market.[24] [25] Both the XL and XL+ ran off of the Zilog Z80 and Intel 80186 microprocessors in unison; the XL+ added an additional 16-bit co-processor and 128 KB of RAM to the computer's base amount of memory. Both models of the Execuport featured dual 5.25-inch 800-kB floppy drives and a green-phosphor CRT display measuring 9inchesby5inchesin (byin) and displaying up to 132 columns by 24 rows.[26] The computers were partially IBM PC compatible and ran MS-DOS and CP/M.[27] In 1985, CTSI introduced a duo of general-purpose label printers for microcomputer systems, called the Execuport 2400 series.[28]
CTSI employed around 60 individuals in 1985. In July 1985, the Federal Reserve Board delisted CTSI from the over-the-counter stock exchange for "failing to meet continued listing requirements",[29] and in late 1986, CTSI filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. At the time they possessed $2.2 million in bank debts, $440,000 of which was owed to banks. In July 1987, they were acquired by Vertex Industries of Clifton, who invested $250,000 in the company and relinquished CTSI's bank debts.[30] CTSI remained a subsidiary of Vertex until 1998.[31] [32] [33] Founder Jacobson left the firm to work for Computer Integration Associates of Old Bridge in June 1988.[34] In 1998, Vertex spun off CTSI, who subsequently merged with Mortgage Plus Equity and Loan Corporation of New York.