Why Compagnie des Machines Bull did not succeed in making an agreement with the late F-H Raymond, founder and CEO of the SEA ?
SEA was a start-up that entered the electronic computer field (analog then digital) almost as soon as the US industry did and at a time where Compagnie des Machines Bull was in the electro-mechanical business. Competition ignited when Bull entered the general computer market with its drum computer gamma ET) and SEA started to develop business tape computers. However, there was an agreement signed in the early 1960s based on Bull would have marketed products designed by SEA (at that time the personal computer CAB500 – a cheaper IBM 1620- and the medium size tape business computer 3900). Bull sold only a handful of CAB500 and not any 3900, far from the agreement expectations. So, Bull was sued by SEA in the court and was forced to pay compensations. Bull had commitments to RCA by selling the Gamma 30 (in lieu of SEA 3900) and their sales network did not show a significant interest in scientific computers. Raymond was considering that Machines Bull engineers were stubbornly devoted to the
