Launched in 1974, Intel's 8080 was an evolution of the company's previous 8008, and like its ancestor was originally intended as an embedded processor for use in things like calculators and terminals.

However, its improved performance and convenient form-factor led to its use in many of the first wave of affordable microcomputers, perhaps most famously in Altair's 8800 - the first commercially-successful micro, launched at the very end of 1974.