Texas Instruments BA-35 Student Business Analyst (Taiwan)

Texas Instruments introduced in 1982 with the BA-35 Student Business Analyst a new financial calculator based on the TI-50 "slimline" scientific calculator and the CD4571 C-MOS single-chip calculator circuit of the then new TP0456 architecture. In Summer 1984 the design of the BA-35 was – together with its siblings BA-II, TI-30 III and TI-35 II – completely changed and production shifted to Compal Electronics and Inventec Corporation in Taiwan. It is very interesting to know that it took less than one year and production of these calculators was established both in United States and Italy with a completely revised internal construction.

We noticed a similar time-frame with the “slanted” calculators, e.g. the TI-55-II introduced in 1981. Due to major quality problems with the keyboards of the original TI-55-II, a design very similar to the TI-50 keyboards, their technology was changed and production established in Taiwan, too. We know TI-55 III calculators manufactured either by Compal Electronics or Inventec Corporation, mid of the 1980s the two largest contract manufacturers for portable electronic calculators. Already in 1985 production of the 2nd generation slanted calculators, e.g. the TI-57 II, was shifted back to the US and Italy.

Dismantling this BA-35 manufactured in July 1984 by Inventec Corporation in Taiwan reveals no surprises. The rigid printed circuit board (PCB) of the calculator is more or less identical with the PCB of a BA-II manufactured in the same time frame and hosts a solid metal frame for the LC-display and a conventional battery holder Please compare with a TI-30-III manufactured by Compal Electronics.

The TP0456/CD4571 calculator circuit is encapsulated in a traditional Dual-Inline Plastic package and soldered with bended pins on the PCB.

Inspecting the PCB of this BA-35 calculator brought our attention to a small mark reading IBA35-01C, we noticed similar marks already with other calculators manufactured by Inventec Corporation and started compiling a list of the PCB-Marks on calculators manufactured by OEMs for Texas Instruments.


Within one year production of the BA-35 Student Business Analyst was shifted back to Texas Instruments factories in the US and Italy.

More than 10 years later the BA-35 got solar cells, view the BA-35 Solar.

Compare this traditional calculator with the advanced Business Edge or the powerful Financial Investment Analyst FIA-10.

If you need only the COST, SELL, MARGIN calculations view the TI-620.

New Specialties, Inc. based in Vidalia, Georgia introduced in 1987 with the APOTHECALC computer an interesting product using the flexibility of the BA-II calculator design proven already with the Jeppesen Sanderson Avstar flight computer.

The BA-35 is featured in the Texas Instruments Incorporated bulletin CL-830A dated 1985.

If you have additions to the above article please email: joerg@datamath.org.

© Joerg Woerner, November 12, 2009. No reprints without written permission.