First Class Peripherals

First Class Peripherals

Company type	Private
Traded as	First Class Systems (1989–1990)
Industry	Computer
Founded	October 1984 (1984-10) in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, United States
Founders	Jim Toreson Clinton B. Teegardin
Defunct	Template:End date and age
Fate	Dissolution
Products	Peripherals Systems
Number of employees	40 (1989)
Parent	Xebec Corporation (1984–1989)

First Class Peripherals, Inc. was a U.S.-based computer hardware producer operating between 1984 and 1990. Originally established as the mail-order division of Xebec Corporation, the company specialized in manufacturing hard disk drive (HDD) subsystems compatible with the Apple II, Macintosh, and IBM PC platforms and their compatibles. Following Xebec's closure in 1989, First Class became an independent entity, relocating to Santa Clara, California, where it briefly produced IBM PS/2 clones under the brand name First Class Systems. The business terminated its activities in November 1990.

History

First Class Peripherals was founded in October 1984 in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania as a subsidiary of Xebec Corporation, a prominent figure in the early 1980s HDD and disk controller sectors. Jim Toreson, co-founder and chairman of Xebec, appointed Clinton B. Teegardin—who had a two-decade tenure at IBM—to lead First Class while also serving as vice president at Xebec. The company's strategy focused on capturing market share in the mail-order aftermarket computer hardware arena, competing with companies such as Iomega.

The firm's initial offering was the Sider, a 10-MB external HDD subsystem designed for the Apple II series (excluding the Apple IIc), supporting Apple DOS, ProDOS, Apple Pascal, and CP/M-based operating systems. Released in December 1984, this product featured daisy-chain capability to facilitate storage expansion. The Sider was well-received by critics and earned inCider magazine’s product of the month accolade in May 1985. By September of that year, a version compatible with IBM PCs was introduced but received mixed feedback from reviewers. In November 1985, the Sider II arrived with an upgraded 20-MB drive offering improved speed, followed by the release of the 40-MB D4 model in 1988.

By late 1985, First Class relocated to Carson City, Nevada, close to Xebec’s primary manufacturing facility. In 1987, the company diversified its portfolio by launching tape drives targeting Apple's Macintosh computers. Nonetheless, Xebec encountered financial difficulties after losing IBM as a client. In October 1988, Xebec entered into an agreement with Migent Software to rebrand Migent’s Pocket Modem as the First Class Travel Modem as part of debt settlement arrangements.

By mid-1989, First Class employed approximately 40 staff members. Following Xebec’s Chapter 7 bankruptcy filing in July 1989, First Class was spun off into an autonomous company. Jim Toreson resumed his role as chairman and moved operations to Santa Clara. During the summer of 1989, he secured investment and technical collaboration from Italian company Voxson and French firm Normerel to shift focus toward manufacturing complete computer systems. Under the new name First Class Systems, the company concentrated on producing clones of IBM PS/2 Micro Channel architecture PCs—a relatively rare approach among U.S.-based manufacturers at that time. Their initial models—the F20DX and F16/SX—were launched in November 1989 as equivalents to IBM’s PS/2 Model 70 and Model 55 SX respectively. Sales remained modest into early 1990, followed by the April release of the higher-clocked (25 MHz) model 325i.

Although First Class emphasized that slow market acceptance of Micro Channel architecture was common until major industry players adopted it, the company ultimately ceased operations in November 1990 after being suspended by California's Franchise Tax Board.