Leading Technology

Not to be confused with Leading Edge Products.

Leading Technology, Inc.

Company type	Private
Founded	1985 (1985) in Beaverton, Oregon
Founders	Pat Terrell Rick Terrell
Defunct	1992 (1992)
Fate	Acquired by VTech
Products	Computer systems Computer peripherals Monitors
Number of employees	350 (1992, peak)

Leading Technology, Inc., was an American computer company based in Beaverton, Oregon, and active from 1985 to 1992. It sold computer systems, monitors, and other peripherals supplied by original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) in Hong Kong, Korea, Taiwan. In 1992, the company was purchased by VTech of Hong Kong.

History

Leading Technology, Inc., was founded by Pat Terrell and Rick Terrell. Pat had previously founded and ran Byte Shop Northwest—the Pacific Northwest operations of the Byte Shop computer retailer licensed from Paul Terrell—from 1976 until 1985, when it was acquired by PacTel Systems, a subsidiary of Pacific Telesis based in San Francisco, California. After being let go from Byte Shop Northwest in June 1986, Pat Terrell discussed founding Leading Technology upon learning that a former employee of his had founded an consumer electronics exporting company in Hong Kong, in which he promptly purchased a stake. His numerous business contacts earned while running Byte Shop Northwest combined with his newfound contacts in Hong Kong gave Terrell the idea to found an importer of computer products. In late 1985, he co-founded Leading Technology with his brother Rick, who had previously founded Microware Distributors (not to be confused with Microware the software company), a fast-growing company distributor based in Beaverton, Oregon.

Leading Technology's first attempts at selling computer desktops in 1985 proved unsuccessful due to the volatile pricing inherent to the desktop market in the mid-1980s, so the company ditched these in favor of high-volume importing and selling of computer peripherals—mostly monitors—manufactured by companies in Korea such as Samsung, Hyundai, and GoldStar. By April 1987, the company offered twenty distinct products and was soon to offer keyboards and modems as well. By September 1987, the company generated $1 million in sales per month. Leading Technology moved from an "unimposing" office in a Beaverton business park to cohabit a 77,000-square-foot building downtown with Rick Terrell's erstwhile active Microware in late September 1987. About 15,000 square feet of the new building was dedicated to office space for Leading Technology, while another 35,000 was dedicated to warehousing and assembly of the company's products.

By mid-1990, the company, which now employed 85 people from Beaverton, began selling computer systems again, albeit monitors remained their top-selling product—the company moving roughly 40,000 monitor units a month that year, compared to between 10,000 and 15,000 computer systems over the same duration. Revenues grew from $60 million in revenue in 1989 to $200 million in 1990. After receiving a capital infusion worth between $9.5 million to $12.5 million in 1990, the company sold a 50-percent equity interest in the company to the Hong Kong–based VTech, who had manufactured some of the company's products. Leading Edge subsequently re-launched their computer systems in earnest by establishing the PC Partner brand of low-cost desktops and laptops in 1991, their push into the consumer retail space. The PC Partners received decent reviews in the computer press and allowed the company to grow to a peak employment of 350 people in 1992. PC Partners were primarily sold at warehouse club chains like Costco, Best Products, and Price Club, as well as electronics superstores.

In 1992, the company was acquired in full by VTech, who laid off 50 workers at Leading Technology and rebranded the company's offerings under VTech's own Laser brand.