This was a series of general-purpose machines developed with subsidies from the Ministry of International Trade and Industry by Fujitsu and Hitachi -- which formed one of the 3 groupings of Japanese computer manufacturers. The architecture of the M Series was based on the architecture of the IBM S/370 Series, which was widely accepted among users at the time. In November 1974, Fujitsu announced the first models in its FACOM M Series, and Hitachi announced the first models in its HITAC M Series.