This paper describes how the predecessors to modern computers, the family of equipment we describe as The Punch Card Machines, entered the Danish and Nordic Markets. It also describes how it paved the way for the relatively rapid take-off in the Nordic market of the ‘real’ computers. The paper also sheds light on the competitive situation, the key applications, and the heavy influence of public regulations on market development. Written in conjunction with the studies on the roots of IBM Denmark, founded as a limited company as late as 1950, the paper makes use of archives and material hitherto not published.