Busicom 's original design called for a programmable chip set consisting of seven different chips .
The project that produced the 4004 originated in 1969 , when Busicom , a Japanese calculator manufacturer , asked Intel to build a chipset for high - performance desktop calculators .
calculator manufacturer 's original design called for a programmable chip set consisting of seven different chips .
The project that produced the 4004 originated in 1969 , when Busicom , a Japanese calculator manufacturer , asked Intel to build a chipset for high - performance desktop calculators .