Background and Identification
Compaq was a computer hardware and software company founded in 1982. Compaq was the producer of some of IBM’s first PC compatible computers. It was also the first company to legally reverse-engineer an IBM Personal Computer. During the 1990s, Compaq became one of the largest suppliers of personal computer systems. HP acquired Compaq in 2002 and remained in use by HP until 2013 for lower-end personal computer systems. Compaq is a combination of the words ‘Compatibility And Quality.’
Most Compaq products were re-branded with the HP emblem, which includes ‘HP’ in lowercase letters inside of a circle. The Compaq brand was repurposed by HP for budget and consumer-oriented products, including the Compaq Presario personal computers. The Compaq Evo line became HP’s line of business computers and was rebranded HP Compaq. Following the merger of HP and Compaq in 2002, all Compaq computers were sold with HP software.
In 2007, HP announced a new logo for the Compaq division, which included the name ‘Compaq’ below a letter ‘C’ with an accentuated tail, all in red font. Originally, the Compaq name was used by HP for all business and budget notebooks, but the HP Compaq B series became HP’s middle business line, the HP ProBook became HP’s low-end business line, and the HP EliteBook became the high-end business notebook line.