<s>
IBM	B-Device
5550	I-Device
is	O
a	O
personal	B-Device
computer	I-Device
series	O
that	O
IBM	O
marketed	O
in	O
Japan	O
,	O
Korea	O
,	O
Taiwan	O
and	O
China	O
in	O
the	O
1980s	O
and	O
1990s	O
,	O
for	O
business	O
use	O
customers	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Japan	O
,	O
it	O
was	O
introduced	O
in	O
1983	O
and	O
promoted	O
as	O
""	O
because	O
it	O
had	O
three	O
roles	O
in	O
one	O
machine	O
:	O
a	O
PC	B-Device
,	O
a	O
word	O
processing	O
machine	O
which	O
was	O
traditionally	O
marketed	O
as	O
a	O
machine	O
different	O
from	O
a	O
PC	B-Device
in	O
Japan	O
,	O
and	O
an	O
IBM-host	O
attached	O
terminal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
that	O
had	O
been	O
marketed	O
by	O
IBM	O
since	O
1981	O
,	O
using	O
Intel	B-Device
8088	I-Device
,	O
was	O
not	O
powerful	O
enough	O
to	O
process	O
the	O
far	O
eastern	O
languages	O
of	O
Japanese	O
,	O
Korean	O
and	O
Chinese	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nor	O
was	O
the	O
resolution	O
of	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
's	O
display	O
high	O
enough	O
to	O
show	O
the	O
complex	O
characters	O
of	O
these	O
languages	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
IBM	B-Device
5550	I-Device
was	O
first	O
introduced	O
in	O
Japan	O
in	O
March	O
1983	O
,	O
using	O
Intel	B-General_Concept
8086	I-General_Concept
microprocessor	O
and	O
was	O
called	O
"	O
Multistation	O
5550	O
"	O
because	O
it	O
had	O
three	O
roles	O
in	O
one	O
machine	O
:	O
a	O
PC	B-Device
,	O
a	O
word	O
processing	O
machine	O
which	O
was	O
traditionally	O
marketed	O
in	O
Japan	O
as	O
a	O
machine	O
different	O
from	O
a	O
PC	B-Device
,	O
and	O
an	O
online	O
terminal	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IBM	B-Device
5550	I-Device
initially	O
used	O
its	O
own	O
architecture	O
,	O
but	O
,	O
later	O
since	O
1987	O
,	O
was	O
changed	O
to	O
use	O
IBM	B-Device
Personal	I-Device
System/2	I-Device
'	O
s	O
Micro	B-Device
Channel	I-Device
Architecture	I-Device
,	O
being	O
renamed	O
as	O
Personal	B-Device
System/55	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
IBM	O
later	O
introduced	O
IBM	B-Device
JX	I-Device
for	O
home	O
users	O
in	O
Japan	O
,	O
Australia	O
and	O
New	O
Zealand	O
,	O
and	O
DOS/V	B-Application
for	O
both	O
business	O
and	O
home	O
users	O
in	O
Japan	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
5550	O
was	O
originally	O
planned	O
as	O
a	O
terminal	O
with	O
a	O
combination	O
of	O
word	O
processing	O
and	O
personal	B-Device
computing	I-Device
targeted	O
for	O
Japanese	O
computer	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
display	O
24	O
dots	O
Mincho	O
kanji	O
typeface	O
which	O
was	O
also	O
used	O
in	O
many	O
Japanese	O
word	O
processing	O
machines	O
,	O
the	O
5550	O
had	O
high	O
display	B-General_Concept
resolution	I-General_Concept
such	O
as	O
a	O
1024×768	B-General_Concept
pixel	O
graphic	O
screen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Japanese	O
Business	O
Personal	B-Device
Computer	I-Device
:	O
developed	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
original	O
Bunsho	O
Program	O
and	O
emulators	O
booted	O
from	O
a	O
floppy	B-Device
disk	I-Device
without	O
Nihongo	O
DOS	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
used	O
a	O
proprietary	O
disk	O
format	O
which	O
could	O
n't	O
be	O
read	O
from	O
Nihongo	O
DOS	B-Device
,	O
so	O
users	O
had	O
to	O
replace	O
floppy	B-Device
disks	I-Device
or	O
set	O
the	O
boot	O
partition	O
to	O
switch	O
between	O
two	O
programs	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
,	O
they	O
were	O
ported	O
for	O
Nihongo	O
DOS	B-Device
,	O
and	O
functions	O
were	O
gradually	O
implemented	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
3270	B-Operating_System
Kanji	O
Emulation	O
,	O
5250	B-Device
Kanji	O
Emulation	O
and	O
Bunsho	O
Program	O
were	O
superseded	O
by	O
Nihongo	O
3270	B-Operating_System
PC	B-Device
in	O
October	O
1983	O
,	O
Nihongo	O
5250	B-Device
PC	B-Device
in	O
September	O
1984	O
and	O
DOS	B-Device
Bunsho	O
Program	O
in	O
May	O
1986	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
first	O
generation	O
of	O
IBM	B-Device
5550	I-Device
has	O
up	O
to	O
three	O
5¼inch	O
double-density	O
(	O
720	O
KB	O
)	O
floppy	B-Device
drives	I-Device
because	O
the	O
Bunsho	O
Program	O
uses	O
three	O
floppy	B-Device
disks	I-Device
;	O
program	O
disk	O
,	O
font	O
disk	O
,	O
and	O
user	O
data	O
disk	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Later	O
models	O
contain	O
a	O
font	O
ROM	O
card	O
as	O
other	O
1980	O
's	O
Japanese	O
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
did	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
of	O
IBM	O
Fujisawa	O
Development	O
Laboratory	O
planned	O
the	O
terminal	O
with	O
a	O
combination	O
of	O
word	O
processor	O
and	O
personal	B-Device
computer	I-Device
,	O
called	O
the	O
Multi-functional	O
Workstation	O
,	O
and	O
he	O
proposed	O
it	O
at	O
the	O
headquarter	O
in	O
March	O
1981	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
team	O
set	O
goals	O
for	O
IBM	B-Device
5550	I-Device
that	O
the	O
machine	O
was	O
usable	O
for	O
both	O
word	O
processing	O
and	O
personal	B-Device
computing	I-Device
on	O
the	O
same	O
architecture	O
at	O
least	O
3-5	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
They	O
tried	O
to	O
build	O
the	O
5550	O
from	O
the	O
IBM	B-Protocol
Displaywriter	I-Protocol
System	I-Protocol
6580	O
,	O
the	O
English	O
word	O
processor	O
developed	O
in	O
Austin	O
office	O
in	O
1980	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
Personal	I-Device
Computer	I-Device
developed	O
in	O
Boca	O
Raton	O
office	O
,	O
but	O
it	O
was	O
difficult	O
to	O
combine	O
different	O
types	O
of	O
machines	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
used	O
an	O
Intel	B-Device
8088	I-Device
,	O
but	O
the	O
5550	O
employed	O
an	O
Intel	B-General_Concept
8086	I-General_Concept
because	O
bus	O
speed	O
largely	O
influenced	O
for	O
performance	O
of	O
the	O
machine	O
which	O
had	O
high	O
display	B-General_Concept
resolution	I-General_Concept
.	O
</s>
<s>
To	O
gain	O
an	O
advantage	O
over	O
competitors	O
in	O
Japanese	O
word	O
processing	O
,	O
24	O
pixel	O
font	O
models	O
render	O
characters	O
in	O
a	O
box	O
of	O
26×29	O
pixels	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
total	O
display	B-General_Concept
resolution	I-General_Concept
is	O
1066×725	O
pixels	O
calculated	O
with	O
box	O
width	O
by	O
41×25	O
text	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
16	O
pixel	O
font	O
models	O
render	O
characters	O
in	O
a	O
box	O
of	O
18×21	O
pixels	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
total	O
display	B-General_Concept
resolution	I-General_Concept
is	O
738×525	O
pixels	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
For	O
personal	B-Device
computing	I-Device
,	O
Nihongo	O
DOS	B-Device
K2.00	O
had	O
been	O
developed	O
by	O
Microsoft	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
the	O
second	O
Japanese	O
localization	O
of	O
MS-DOS	O
2.0	O
followed	O
to	O
Toshiba	O
's	O
PASOPIA	O
16	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Nihongo	O
DOS	B-Device
bundled	O
the	O
Microsoft	B-Language
BASIC	I-Language
interpreter	O
which	O
designed	O
for	O
the	O
5550	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Programming	O
languages	O
and	O
the	O
Japanese	O
version	O
of	O
Multiplan	B-Device
were	O
also	O
provided	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
May	O
1982	O
Business	O
Show	O
(	O
one	O
of	O
computer	O
industry	O
exhibitions	O
in	O
Japan	O
)	O
,	O
IBM	O
Japan	O
only	O
displayed	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
PC	I-Device
as	O
a	O
reference	O
material	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
IBM	O
Japan	O
did	O
n't	O
have	O
a	O
factory	O
for	O
mass	O
production	O
of	O
personal	B-Device
computers	I-Device
,	O
so	O
the	O
production	O
of	O
5550	O
was	O
outsourced	O
to	O
some	O
companies	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
BYTE	B-Application
in	O
1983	O
speculated	O
that	O
"	O
we	O
may	O
soon	O
see	O
a	O
similar	O
machine	O
here	O
in	O
America	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Describing	O
the	O
5550	O
as	O
"	O
a	O
true	O
workstation	O
"	O
,	O
the	O
magazine	O
envisioned	O
the	O
computer	O
as	O
filling	O
the	O
"	O
considerable	O
gulf	O
above	O
the	O
PC	B-Device
"	O
,	O
and	O
a	O
rival	O
to	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
System/36	I-Device
minicomputer	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
magazine	O
concluded	O
that	O
"	O
if	O
the	O
American	O
PC	B-Device
is	O
any	O
precedent	O
,	O
the	O
market	O
should	O
soon	O
be	O
filled	O
with	O
5550	O
software	O
"	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Meiji	O
Life	O
who	O
used	O
the	O
IBM	B-Device
3081	I-Device
mainframe	O
decided	O
to	O
purchase	O
about	O
500	O
units	O
of	O
the	O
5550	O
in	O
1983	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
new	O
personal	B-Device
computer	I-Device
must	O
respond	O
for	O
the	O
host	O
computer	O
as	O
fast	O
as	O
a	O
terminal	O
,	O
and	O
it	O
must	O
have	O
various	O
communication	O
softwares.	O
"	O
</s>
<s>
In	O
Japan	O
,	O
the	O
5550	O
had	O
annual	O
sales	O
of	O
70,000	O
units	O
in	O
1985	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
Nikkei	O
Personal	B-Device
Computing	I-Device
magazine	O
reported	O
in	O
1986	O
that	O
the	O
5550	O
had	O
the	O
largest	O
personal	B-Device
computer	I-Device
share	O
of	O
30%	O
in	O
the	O
corporate	O
sector	O
.	O
</s>
