[Image: Picture of US revised keyboard on top, French AZERTY keyboard on bottom]
After the PCjr's chiclet keyboard drew withering criticism, IBM released a normal-looking revised version in July of 1984 and offered to replace the chiclet version for free. PCjr sales picked up with discounts in the 1984 Christmas season but fell again in the new year when the discounts ended. IBM discontinued the PCjr in March of 1985.
IBM produced the PCjr for just over a year. Did IBM ever sell it in Europe? Not as far as I know.
So where did this French AZERTY keyboard come from?
You might be thinking it was meant for French Canada, but the Québecois use a modified QWERTY layout, not AZERTY. The AZERTY layout is mostly used in France and Belgium.
This keyboard has the IBM badge on the front and a serial number sticker on the back.
| Part number | Serial number |
|---|---|
| 8600041 | F12224025 |
The part number is in line with PCjr accessories (of which I've listed a few examples below), but I don't see it in the price lists I have from 1984 and 1985. It's also distinctly different from the part numbers of the US chiclet and revised keyboards.
| Part number | Item | |
|---|---|---|
| 8600005 | disk drive | |
| 8600006 | power expansion attachment | |
| 8600008 | internal modem | |
| 8600010 | joystick | |
| 8600027 | cluster attachment | |
| 8600031 | 128 KB memory attachment |
The normal revised keyboard's numbers:
| Part number | Serial number | |
|---|---|---|
| USA 6181835 | SN31840782 |
