Around 1978, several 16-bit CPUs became available. Examples included the Data General
mN601, Fairchild's 9440, the Ferranti F100-L, the General Instrument
CP1600 and CP1610, the National Semiconductor
INS8900, Panafacom's MN1610,[5] Texas Instruments'
TMS9900, and, most notably, the Intel 8086. These new processors were expensive to incorporate in personal computers, as they used a 16-bit data bus and needed rare (and thus expensive) 16-bit peripheral and support chips.
