Proprietary hardware is computer hardware which is owned by the proprietor.
Historically, most early computer hardware was designed as proprietary until the 1980s, when IBM PC changed this paradigm. Earlier, in 1970s, many vendors tried to challenge IBM's monopoly in the mainframe computer market by reverse engineering and producing hardware components electrically compatible with expensive equipment and (usually) able to run the same software. Those vendors were nicknamed plug compatible manufacturers (PCMs).
See also
- Vendor lock-in
- Micro Channel architecture, a commonly cited historical example of proprietary hardware
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