Based on limited knowledge of events, 1977 was the turning point for personal computers in the home.
My own knowledge isn't limited. I homebrewed (as in, designed and wired each chip by hand) my own personal computer in 1979. I had complete sets of Byte, Kilobaud and Dr Dobbs. (People who were there, know what those are.)
They went from having "kit" included in the name, to being fully functional machines that didn't require an engineer to maintain or make use of. The 3 biggest computers in the revolution were the Apple II, The Commodore PET, and the Tandy TRS-80.
The PET didn't sell so well. The Apple II even less for a long time, and it was never a majority seller.
- The Apple II with 4K cost $1300 and didn't include a monitor.
- The TRS-80 cost $600 with monitor.
- Later home computers from Atari and Commodore dropped even lower.
- Guess which ones kickstarted the mass consumer home computer revolution?
1977:
- Apple sold 600 Apple IIs.
- Tandy sold 100,000 TRS-80s.
1978:
- Apple sold 7,600 Apple IIs.
- Tandy sold 150,000 TRS-80s.
1979:
- Apple sold 35,000 Apple IIs.
- Tandy sold 200,000 TRS-80s.
- Atari sold 100,000 of their 400/800 models.
1980:
- Apple sold 78,000 Apple IIs
- Tandy sold 225,000 TRS-80s.
- Atari sold 200,000 of theirs.
By 1981, the IBM PCs were arriving, and they sold in overwhelming numbers. (Out of all the original home computers, the Commodore 64 sold best, hitting 17 million units.)
By the end of 1985, Steve Jobs was kicked out of Apple, and had no direct home computer influence for a decade.
Your graph does not show who the computers were sold to, or what kind of computers they were.
Not sure what you're thinking, but anyone who was in the hobby at the time knows that they were all personal computers.
And again with the Apple started with a couple kids in 1976, not as established electronic companies.
A lot of people did that, including me and my friends. Computer startups were a dime a dozen. I grant you that Jobs outlasted us
The fact that we are here even discussing something that took place 35 years ago is amazing.
The fact that people have such a warped view of computer history is amazing, and a big reason why oldtimers like me who lived through it stick around.
Before newcomers who haven't read the thread jump in, btw, I'm not saying Jobs didn't have a large overall influence. This is only about the myth that he and Apple single-handedly started the home computer revolution.