ROLM

ROLM Corporation was a technology company founded in Silicon Valley in 1969. In 1978, ROLM split into Rolm Mil-Spec Computers and Rolm Telecom. During 1983-1984, IBM partnered with the company, and Rolm Mil-Spec was sold to Loral Corporation and later to Lockheed Martin in 1996 as Tactical Defense Systems. IBM's ROLM division was later half sold to Siemens AG in 1989, whereupon the manufacturing and development became wholly owned by Siemens and called ROLM Systems, while marketing and service became a joint venture of IBM with Siemens, called ROLM Company. After nearly 30 years, phone products with the name "Rolm" were discontinued in the late 1990s, as sales dropped in markets dominated by new technology with other products or other companies.