The 4164 was quite a mythical memory chip. It contained 65535 bits of RAM memory, four times more than its predecessor, the 4116. Eight chips were thus needed to obtain 64 Kbytes of RAM. After a short period of low sales level, the famous 8 x 4164 RAM chips equipped quite every computer which featured at least 64 KB of RAM.
>br> Texas Instruments launched the first samples of its TMS-4164 in late October 1978 at about... $170 per unit! However T.I. was not the first company to produce such chip. Japanese companies already manufactured the same chip for a few months, and the battle for international supremacy over RAM chips and computer components started with the 4164.
>br> First, sales of the chip were modest. About 36.000 were sold worldwide in 1978-79 but they rocketed to some 13 million units in 1980-81. The Japanese captured 70 percent of the market. Sale price went from over $100 to $25 then $5, and remained the same throughout the following years.