Editing Hayes Microcomputer Products (section)

==Competition==
The modem market in the 1970s was very simple and stagnant.  Modems tended to sell at US$1 per baud.  Hayes saw no need to be different—the original Hayes 300 baud modem sold for US$299 retail.  At that price point, Hayes could build a "Cadillac of modems", using high-quality components, an extruded aluminum case, and an acrylic front panel with a number of LED indicators. As the modem market expanded, competitors quickly copied the [[Hayes command set]] and often the Hayes industrial design as well. To compete with Hayes on price, early competitors manufactured modems using low-cost components that were often unreliable. Hayes quickly gained a reputation for high quality, and for a time held a 50% market share.

In 1982, at the Spring Comdex in Atlantic City, Hayes introduced the [[Bell 212A|Bell 212]]-compatible '''Smartmodem 1200''' for $699, the first practical all-in-one 1200 bit/s Bell 212-compatible modem.<ref name = "InfoWorld April 1983">{{Cite magazine | last = Markoff | first = John | title = Stand-alone Smartmodem 1200 from Hayes |magazine= InfoWorld | volume = 5 | issue = 27 | pages =90–93 
 | date = April 25, 1983 | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=7i8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA91 | issn = 0199-6649
}} "The Hayes Smartmodem 1200, which was introduced in the middle of 1982, ..." Price $699.</ref>{{efn|A widely circulated history of computing states that the Smartmodem 1200 was introduced in 1981. This "history" is confusing the Smartmodem 1200 with the original Smartmodem. Another confuses the original Smartmodem 9600 with the later V-Series modems, reversing the introduction dates and features.{{citation needed|date=January 2020}}}} The earlier design was redesignated the '''Smartmodem 300'''. At the time, Hayes was one of the few modem companies with the capital and engineering wherewithal to develop entirely new modem architectures. However, this was only a limited competitive advantage, since it was not long before companies offering Hayes "clones" introduced derivative 1200 bit/s models of their own.

The 1200&nbsp;bit/s market existed for a relatively short time; in 1984 the [[CCITT]] introduced the [[ITU-T V.22bis|V.22bis]] standard for 2400&nbsp;bit/s operation. This was the first time that the CCITT's standard predated Bell's introductions, avoiding compatibility issues that had plagued earlier standards. Modem companies quickly incorporated V.22bis into their product lines. Hayes was no exception; the company introduced its V.22bis '''Smartmodem 2400''' at US$549 in 1985 (the 1200&nbsp;bit/s Smartmodem also remained available at a lower price point). Competition drove prices rapidly downward, and by 1987 a clone 2400&nbsp;bit/s modem was generally available for around US$250. After 1987, modems increasingly became a commodity item.