Ambra Personal Computers

AMBRA Personal Computers
TypeSubsidiary
IndustryInformation Technology
FoundedJune 4, 1992 (1992-06-04) (as Individual Computer Products International Limited)
FounderAlan Willsher
DefunctMarch 31, 1994 (1994-03-31) (UK & Europe)
FateDefunct, Brand discontinued.
SuccessorIBM PS/2, IBM V/P, IBM Aptiva and Lenovo line of PCs
HeadquartersPortsmouth, United Kingdom
Area served
United Kingdom, Europe, Canada (United States through licensing to Ambra Computer Corporation)
Key peopleWilliam E. McCracken, Alan J. Willsher, Giuseppe Giovanni
ProductsSlimline, Desktop, Mini-Tower and Notebook PCs
BrandsAMBRA Sprinta, AMBRA Hurdla, AMBRA Treka, AMBRA Sprinta II, AMBRA Hurdla MT, AMBRA notebook Mk II, Maverick
Number of employees
<50
ParentInternational Business Machines Corporation

AMBRA Personal Computers was the trading name of Individual Computer Products International (ICPI) Limited - a wholly owned UK subsidiary of IBM between 1992 and 1994, operating in the United Kingdom, Europe and Canada.

The AMBRA name was later licensed in 1993 by ICPI to the Ambra Computer Corporation in the United States, itself a subsidiary of IBM. This is noted in the small-print of US adverts such as PC World magazine between 1993 and 1994. The two organisations (Ambra Personal Computers & The Ambra Computer Corporation) operated independently of each other although clearly shared some hardware casing profiles (albeit named differently - for example in the AMBRA Hurdla in the UK and Europe shared the case of the D466DXA in the United States), and AMBRA specific software packages pre-loaded on the PCs consisting of an AMBRA branded tutorial and menu system designed to load from DOS on initial startup and was specific to the model of machine running on. They also used separately trademarked logos, Ambra Personal Computers using a colourful caricature of and athlete running over a hill.

UK and US machine models compared
Advertising photographs from 1993/1994 of the AMBRA Hurdla (UK, left) and the AMBRA D466DXA (US, right).
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