Editing Commodore 16 (section)

==Market performance==
The C16 was a major failure in the U.S. and was discontinued within a year, but it sold reasonably well in Europe as a low-end game machine (over 90% of all C16 software was produced by European developers) and in Mexico as well.

The C16's failure in the US market was likely due to a lack of software support, incompatibility with the C64, and lack of importance to Commodore after its competitors withdrew from the market.

A total of 1 million Plus/4s, C16s, and C116s were sold, with the latter two accounting for about 60% of its total volume.

Beginning in 1986, remaining C16, C116 and Plus/4 inventories were sold at a much-reduced price on the [[Eastern Bloc]] market, chiefly [[Hungary]]. Hungary did not produce any home computers at the time, the [[Soviet]] and [[Bulgaria]]n models were far too expensive for most Hungarians while the [[East Germany|East German]] models were not for sale to private parties, and most Western models were completely unavailable. Thus, this move by Commodore was the first chance for many people in Hungary to own a computer at all. It created a fanbase that lasted well into the 1990s and that contributed several unofficial ports of popular Commodore 64 programs.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://yape.homeserver.hu/history.htm|title = History of the Commodore 264 series of microcomputers, with focus also on Hungary. | work = The C16-Plus/4 retro page }}</ref>{{Citation needed|date=January 2010}}

===Mexico===
In [[Mexico]], the C16 was sold as a beginner's computer from early 1985 to 1992. [[Aurrerá]] supermarkets distributed them with Grupo Sigma S.A., a local distributor of Commodore USA. The computer was marketed as "Sigma-Commodore 16"<ref>{{cite web|url=https://plus4world.powweb.com/hardware/Sigma_Commodore_16|title=Sigma Commodore 16 – Hardware – Plus/4 World|website=Plus4world.powweb.com|access-date=3 March 2019}}</ref> (all other Commodore computers sold in Mexico had the same moniker). Basically, this model is the same as the American/European C16; as it doesn't have the "[[Ñ]]" key needed for writing the Spanish language, the only difference is the custom label.

Aurrera Supermarket also sold software, peripherals and books about to how to program Commodore Computers. All this merchandise was displayed in special modules at the electronics department called "El Universo de la Computación" (The Universe of the Computer Science). The success of Commodore in Mexico was in granted by the fact that Aurrera Supermarket let anyone test the machines in store, so people gathered to play games and exchange programs in unofficial computer clubs.<ref name="old_computers_c16" />

At least four annual software writing contests were held sponsored by Aurrera Supermarket, Grupo Sigma and Commodore between 1985 and 1989.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://plus4world.powweb.com/groups/Sigma |title=Grupo Sigma S.A. Commodore Details |publisher=Plus/4 World Team |access-date=May 24, 2019}}</ref> These contests had entries for programming, custom hardware and computer graphics for the C16, C64, C128 and Amiga. Prizes included money, Commodore software and hardware and the right to have the software published by Grupo Sigma for the local market. The contest winners had limited sales restricted only to Mexico, so the resulting original software is almost impossible to find.

Grupo Sigma stopped supporting the brand in mid-1993, in favor of the growing (and more profitable) [[IBM PC compatible]] market.