In 1982, shortly after the V.22bis protocol was approved as a CCIT recommendation, Concord Data Systems (CDS) and Racal-Vadic became the first companies to offer V.22bis modems. Both modems cost about $1,700, or twice as much as the Hayes smartmodem 1200. These new modems, with their hefty price tags, sold almost exclusively to the mainframe market. Over the next year or so, several other modem manufacturers, including Rixon, Micom, and Codex, announced their own V.22 bis modems. This move seemed to legitimize the new protocol and the market finally took off.
At the fall COMDEX, at least a half-dozen models of 2400-bps modems were announced for the PC market. The current list of players includes Hayes, Novation, U.S. Robotics, Microcom, and Racal-Vadic. Most of the modems were originally announced with a list price of just under $900. But by 1985, the competition was already heating up, and U.S. Robotics $699. Still lower prices are sure to come.