to previous levels. In November 1995, Dendy had 10 subsidiaries in the regions and 80 dealers, and retail prices for the consoles dropped to $20. After the mid-1990s, the 16-bit Mega Drive and Super Nintendo consoles began to give way in the West to next-generation consoles, such as the first PlayStation. In Russia, the era of 8-bit consoles was also coming to an end. Steepler planned to start selling various consumer electronics, such as DVD players, under the Dendy brand. However, those plans fell through when Steepler won a tender to automate the State Duma. Due to opposition from the Federal Agency of Government Communications and Information and assassination attempts on employees, Steepler lost contracts with government agencies and went bankrupt in 1996. The Dendy division survived as a separate company, even though working capital was held in Steepler accounts, and faced great difficulties. For a time, suppliers sold goods to the company on credit, but when that ran out, the Dendy division was forced to sell stock exclusively for months. Eventually, when the 1998 Russian financial crisis hit, the company closed completely. Some estimates of Dendy sales in Russia are between 1.5 and 2 million consoles, and other estimates range up to 6 million. The console gained nostalgic status among those who were children in Russia in the 1990s, similar to the Nintendo and Sega consoles of the same era in the United States, Japan, and Europe. At the time, the name Dendy became synonymous with game consoles that plugged into a television set, and it is believed that it was Dendy that created the video game and game console market in Russia, and that it gave rise to the first generation of Russian gamers. Its popularity led to the appearance of counterfeit Dendy clones from other manufacturers. As of 2021, Dendy are collectors' items, and popular among retrogaming fans in Russia. Models Dendy was produced in several modifications. In general, the lineup was divided into two categories: the basic Classic and the budget Junior. The first console of the series is a copy of the Taiwanese Micro Genius IQ-501, which was based on the Twin Famicom from Sharp. Taiwan's TXC Corporation reimagined the Twin Famicom design and made the console more compact. Steepler rebranded the IQ-501 as the Dendy Classic and released it on December 17, 1992. In mid 1993, the Dendy Junior was released, which became "a