   #copyright

Sinclair Research Ltd.

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Companies

   Sinclair Research Ltd
   Sinclair logo
       Type     Limited company
     Founded    Cambridge, England (1961)
   Headquarters London, England
    Key people  Sir Clive Sinclair, Founder
                Nigel Searle, Director (1973 to 1986)
                Jim Westwood
                Rick Dickinson, Designer
     Industry   Computing
                Electronics
                Hi-fi equipment
     Products   Sinclair Executive
                Sinclair Scientific
                ZX Spectrum
                Sinclair QL
     Revenue    £102 million GBP ( 1985)
    Employees   140 (1980s)
                3 (1990)
                1 (1997)
     Website    Sinclair Research

   Sinclair Research Ltd is a consumer electronics company founded by Sir
   Clive Sinclair in Cambridge, England (originally as Sinclair Radionics
   in 1961) to sell hi-fi equipment, calculators, radios and other
   products. In 1966 Sinclair created but never sold the world's first
   pocket television. In 1972 they marketed the world's first pocket
   calculator, the Sinclair Executive. Many other pocket calculator
   variants followed including the Sinclair Cambridge, the Sinclair
   Scientific and the Sinclair Oxford.

   In the 1980s Sinclair entered the personal computer market with the
   ZX80 at £99.95, at the time the cheapest personal computer for sale in
   the UK. In 1982 the ZX Spectrum was released, later becoming Britain's
   best selling computer, competing aggressively against Commodore and
   Amstrad. At the height of its success, and largely inspired by the
   Japanese Fifth Generation Computer programme, the company established
   the "MetaLab" research centre at Milton Hall (near Cambridge), in order
   to pursue Artificial Intelligence, Wafer Scale Integration, formal
   verification and other advanced projects. The combination of the 1984
   failures of the Sinclair QL computer and TV80, and the 1985 Sinclair C5
   electric vehicle bankrupted the company, and a year later Sinclair sold
   the rights to their computer products and brand name to Amstrad.
   Sinclair Research Ltd still exists today, continuing to market Sir
   Clive Sinclair's newest inventions.

The first twenty years: 1961 to 1980

Sinclair Radionics

   On 25 July 1961 Sir Clive Sinclair founded Sinclair Radionics in
   Cambridge, England after raising funds to start the business by writing
   articles for Practical Wireless magazine. Sinclair Radionics developed
   hi-fi products, radios, calculators and scientific instruments. In
   1963, Sinclair Radionics introduced their first radio with the
   "Sinclair Slimline" in kit form at forty-nine shillings and sixpence. A
   year later in 1964 Sinclair released the "Micro-6", match-box size
   radio which the company claimed was the "world's smallest radio". It
   could also be worn on your wrist with the "Transrista". In 1965 the
   "Micro-FM" debuted as "the world"s first pocket-size FM
   tuner-receiver", but was unsuccessful due to technical difficulties.
   Despite problems, illegal clones were produced in the far-east.
   Sinclair's final 1960s radio kit was the 1967 "Micromatic", it was
   billed as "the world's smallest radio" like Sinclair's earlier radios.
   The "Micromatic" was a reasonable success and was sold until 1971. In
   May 1971 Sinclair Radionics made £85,000 profit on £563,000 turnover;
   the following year profit increased to £97,000 on turnover of £761,000.

   In 1966 Sinclair Radionics entered the hi-fi market with the "Stereo
   25", a low-cost pre-amp control system, production was halted in 1968
   due to low supply of transistors which had been purchased in 1964 as
   rejects from other manufacturers. In 1969 it was replaced by the
   "Stereo Sixty", which soon became Sinclair's most successful audio
   product, being the second product of the "Project 60" range. The
   "Project 60" products sold well and were supplemented by the "Project
   605" kit in 1972. It was eventually superseded by the more advanced
   "Project 80" kit in 1974. In September 1973 Sinclair purchased
   "Ablesdeal" so that he would be able to avoid the delay of
   incorporating a company if it became convenient for him to shift his
   ambitions away from Sinclair Radionics. In May 1973 Sinclair Radionics
   generated £1.8m turnover.

   In 1966, Sinclair Radionics developed the world's first portable
   television, the "Microvision", but never attempted to sell it because
   development costs would have been too high based on the complicated
   design the Microvision used. In 1976 it was sold as a revised version,
   the "Microvision TV1A/MON1A" at £99.95. Supply exceeded demand, and
   12,000 units were left unsold until they were sold off cheaply. This
   resulted in a £480,000 loss for Sinclair. Sir Clive Sinclair was
   certain that the TV1B model released in 1978 would be more successful,
   but sales were disappointing. The technology was sold to Binatone.
   Sinclair Oxford 300 of 1975
   Enlarge
   Sinclair Oxford 300 of 1975

   During the majority of the 1970s Sinclair focused on building the most
   affordable pocket calculators, with the best design. In 1972, Sinclair
   released the world's first slim-line pocket calculator, the Sinclair
   Executive, for £79.95. The calculator only included basic math
   functions, and the LED display required lots of power. It is often
   credited as being the world's first attractively-styled calculator,
   that didn't require mains power to be used like prior calculators. The
   executive was a phenomenal success, earning Sinclair £1.8m in profit.
   In 1973 the "Executive Memory" was introduced at a far cheaper price of
   £24.95.

   In 1975 Sinclair Radionics launched the £29.95 Oxford 300 scientific
   briefcase calculator. 1975 also saw the release of the Sinclair
   Scientific, a scientific pocket calculator for £99.95. It used RPN, and
   displays only in 5 digit mantissa or 2 digit. In 1977 a revised model,
   the "Scientific Programmable", was released at £29.95. The Scientific
   Programmable Mark 2 was later released, reducing the price to £17.22.
   Sinclair attempted to capture the top-end calculator market with the
   Sinclair Sovereign, available in plated gold or silver, it was
   critically acclaimed for its excellent engineering and design and
   enjoyed short success.

   In August of 1975 Sinclair introduced the Black Watch at £17.95 in kit
   form and £24.95 ready-built. Including a 5-digit LED display, it
   suffered from technical flaws related with the battery and accuracy.
   The company began to see significant commercial losses because of the
   product. In August 1975, Sinclair changed the name of Ablesdeal to
   "Sinclair Instrument Ltd". Exactly a year later the National Enterprise
   Board bought a 43% stake in Sinclair Radionics for £650,000. Finding it
   inconvenient to share control of his company, Sinclair encouraged Chris
   Curry, who had been working for Radionics since 1966, to leave and get
   Sinclair Instrument started.

   Sinclair Instrument developed the "Wrist Calculator" to generate cash,
   it soon became a commercial success selling in surprising figures. In
   July 1977 Sinclair Instrument Ltd was renamed to "Science of Cambridge
   Ltd". Around about the same time, Ian Williamson showed Chris Curry a
   prototype computer based around a National Semiconductor SC/MP and some
   parts taken from an earlier Sinclair calculator. Curry was impressed
   and encouraged Sinclair to adopt this as a product; an agreement was
   reached with Williamson but no contract was ever signed, Nat Semi had
   offered to redesign the project so that it used only their components
   and they also offered to manufacture the boards.

Science of Cambridge

   In June 1978 Science of Cambridge launched a microcomputer kit,
   marketed as the MK14, based around the National SC/MP chip. By July
   1978, a personal computer project was already underway. When Sinclair
   learnt that the NewBrain could not be sold at below the sub-£100 price
   that he envisaged, his thoughts turned to the ZX80 instead. In May 1979
   Jim Westwood started the ZX80 project at Science of Cambridge, it was
   launched in February 1980 at £79.95 in kit form and £99.95 ready-built.
   In November Science of Cambridge was renamed to "Sinclair Computers
   Ltd".

Success and then decline: 1981 to 1986

Home computers

   Timex Sinclair 1000, a U.S. version of the Sinclair ZX81
   Enlarge
   Timex Sinclair 1000, a U.S. version of the Sinclair ZX81
   ZX Spectrum (1982)
   Enlarge
   ZX Spectrum (1982)

   In March 1981 "Sinclair Computers" was renamed to "Sinclair Research
   Ltd" and the Sinclair ZX81 was launched at £49.95 in kit form and
   £69.95 ready-built, by mail order. In February 1982, Timex Corporation
   obtained a license to manufacture and market Sinclair's computers in
   the USA under the name Timex Sinclair. In April the ZX Spectrum was
   launched, priced at £125 for the 16 kB RAM version and £175 for the 48
   kB version. In July Timex launched the TS 1000 (a version of the ZX81)
   in the US. In March 1982 Sinclair made an £8.55m profit on turnover of
   £27.17m, including £383,000 government grants for flat screen.

   In 1982 Clive Sinclair converted the Barker & Wadsworth mineral water
   bottling factory at 25 Willis Road, Cambridge into the company's new
   headquarters. It was sold to Cambridgeshire County Council in December
   1985 due to Sinclair's finance troubles.

   In January 1983 the ZX Spectrum personal computer was presented at the
   Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show. In September the Sinclair TV80
   television was launched, using flat-screen technology unlike Sinclair's
   previous CRT televisions, the TV80 was a commercial failure only
   selling 15,000 units and not covering its development costs of £4m.

   In 1983, the company bought Milton Hall in the village of Milton,
   outside Cambridge, for £2m, establishing their MetaLab research and
   development facility there.

   In late 1983, Timex decided to pull out of the "Timex Sinclair"
   venture, which had failed to break the US market as expected due to
   strong competition. However Timex computers continued to be produced
   for several years in other countries. Timex Portugal, with the TS 2048
   and 2068, launched improved versions capable of displaying more
   colours, and a better circuit design. They also developed and launched
   the FDD 3000, a floppy disk system, that was not well received by the
   market.

   The Sinclair QL was announced on January 12, 1984, shortly before the
   Apple Macintosh actually went on sale. This was a new computer, to be
   aimed at the business market and costing £399. However, at this point
   the final design had not yet been completed. Shipping finally started
   in May, with 13,000 orders taken, but only a few hundred units
   delivered at first. Because the initially supplied ROM had proved
   insufficient, early machines were shipped with a "kludge" or "dongle"
   hanging out of the machine containing an additional ROM chip. Your
   Sinclair noted that it was "difficult to find a good word for Sinclair
   Research in the computer press".

   Fully working QLs were not available until late summer; complaints
   against Sinclair regarding delays were upheld by the Advertising
   Standards Authority in May of the year (in 1982 it had upheld
   complaints about delays in shipping Spectrums). Especially severe were
   allegations that it was cashing cheques months before machines were
   shipped. The QL was nowhere near as successful as Sinclair's earlier
   computers. In the autumn, Sinclair were still publicly predicting it
   would be a "million seller", with 250,000 sold by the end of the year .
   QL production was suspended in February 1985, and the price was halved
   by the end of the year .

   Between 1981 and 1988 Sinclair created ten peripherals for their
   computers, including joysticks, a spark printer and memory expansion
   modules. Some of the peripherals were developed by other companies but
   still marketed under the Sinclair brand. External storage for the
   Spectrum was usually on cassette tapes, as was common in the era.
   Rather than an optional floppy disk drive, Sinclair instead opted to
   offer their own system, the ZX Microdrive, a tape-loop cartridge system
   that was rather unreliable. This was also the primary storage device
   for the QL.

   The ZX Spectrum+, a retooled ZX Spectrum with a new keyboard, was
   launched in October and appeared on WHSmith's shelves the day after
   release. Retailers stocked the machine in large numbers in expectation
   of good Christmas sales, however it did not sell in the numbers
   expected and, because retailers still had unsold stock, Sinclair's
   income from orders dipped alarmingly in January. The Spectrum+ had the
   same technical specifications as the original Spectrum. An upgraded
   Spectrum, the ZX Spectrum 128, was launched in Spain in September 1985,
   by the Spanish firm Investronica. January 1986 saw the machine launched
   in the UK, apparently in an attempt to generate cash.


                                              Period    Profit    Turnover
                                                1971   £85,000    £563,000
                                                1972   £97,000    £761,000
                                                1973                 £1.8m
                                                1974  £240,000         £4m
                                                1975   £45,000       £6.3m
                                                1976 -£355,000       £5.6m
                                                1977 -£820,000
                                                1978   -£1.98m      £6.39m
                                                1980  £131,000    £640,000
                                                1981  £818,000       £4.6m
                                                1982    £8.55m     £27.17m
                                                1983    £13.8m     £54.53m
                                                1984   £14.28m     £77.69m
                                                1985     -£18m       £102m
                                        1988 to 1989 -£183,015      £7,825
                                        1989 to 1990  £618,389      £4,754
                                        1989 to 1990 -£271,734      £5,486
                                        1991 to 1992 -£592,600      £1,115
                                        1992 to 1993 -£169,197    £379,836
                                        1993 to 1994 -£194,826    £510,943
                                        1994 to 1995 -£303,630    £435,742
                                        1995 to 1996 -£122,873    £255,826
                                        *All profit and turnover data from

Trouble and Amstrad acquisition

   In January 1985, Sinclair released the "FM Wristwatch Radio", an LCD
   wristwatch with a radio attached. The aerial was built into the strap
   and the battery was hidden in the clasp, presumably in an attempt to
   balance out the considerable weight of the watch. The watch had several
   usage problems, and never went into full production, making it one of
   the rarest Sinclair products.
   Sinclair C5
   Enlarge
   Sinclair C5

   Sir Clive had long held an interest in electric vehicles and during the
   early 1980s worked on the design of a single-seater "personal vehicle".
   A new company, Sinclair Vehicles Ltd, was formed in March 1983
   (allowing Sinclair Research to concentrate on electronics) and its
   Sinclair C5 electric vehicle was launched on 10 January 1985. The
   battery powered vehicle aimed to solve environmental problems and be
   the first truly affordable vehicle at £399. It was a commercial
   disaster, selling only 17,000 units and losing Sinclair £7m, Sinclair
   Vehicles going into liquidation later the same year. The C5, combined
   with the failures of the QL and the TV80, caused investors to lose
   confidence in Sir Clive.

   On 28 May 1985, Sinclair had announced that it wanted to raise an extra
   £10m to £15m to restructure Sinclair Research. Given the loss of
   confidence in the company, this proved hard to find. In 1986, the
   company sold its entire computer product range and the "Sinclair" brand
   name to Amstrad. This deal did not involve the company, merely its name
   and products.

The tireless inventor: 1990s to present

   Today the company still exists, but in a completely different form than
   it did in the 1980s. In 1993, 1994 and 1995 Sinclair made continuing
   losses on decreasing turnover, and began to worry investors since Clive
   Sinclair himself was using his own personal wealth to fund his
   inventions. By 1990 Sinclair's entire staff had been reduced to
   Sinclair himself, a salesperson/administrator, and R&D employee. By
   1997 reportedly only Sinclair on his own was working at his company.

   In 1992, the " Zike" electric bicycle was released, Sinclair's second
   attempt at changing means of transportation. The "Zike" was a
   commercial failure much like the C5 was, and only sold a total of 2,000
   units. It had a maximum speed of 10 mph (16 km/h), and was only
   available through mail order.

   In 1997, Sinclair released the world's smallest radio with the "Z1
   Micro AM Radio". In 2003, the Sinclair "ZA20 Wheelchair Drive Unit" was
   introduced, designed and manufactured in conjunction with Hong Kong's
   Daka Designs, a partnership which also led to the SeaDoo Sea Scooter,
   an underwater propulsion unit.

   On July 12, 2006, the A-bike, a folding bicycle invented by Sir Clive
   Sinclair, was released and went on sale for £200. It was originally
   announced two years previously, in 2004.

Cancelled projects

   The following computer products were under development at Sinclair
   Research during the 1980s, but never reached production:
     * LC3: standing for "Low Cost Colour Computer", the LC3, developed
       during 1983 by Martin Brennan, was intended to be a cheap Z80-based
       games console implemented in two chips, using ROM and
       (non-volatile) RAM cartridges for storage. A multi-tasking OS for
       the LC3 with a full windowing GUI was designed by Steve Berry. It
       was cancelled in November 1983 in favour of the QL .

     * SuperSpectrum: intended to be a 68008-based home computer, with
       built-in ZX Microdrive, joystick, RS-232 and ZX Net ports.
       Sinclair's SuperBASIC programming language was originally intended
       for this model, but was later adopted for the QL. SuperSpectrum was
       cancelled in 1982 after the specification of the ZX83 (QL) had
       converged with it. (Not to be confused with Loki, which was
       described as the "SuperSpectrum" in an article in the June 1986
       issue of Sinclair User magazine)

     * Pandora: this was to be a portable computer with an integral
       flat-screen CRT display. Initially to be ZX Spectrum-compatible,
       with a faster Z80 CPU, a built-in ZX Microdrive and a new
       512×192-pixel monochrome video mode. Due to the limited size of
       flat CRT that could be manufactured, a series of folding lenses and
       mirrors was necessary to magnify the screen image to a usable size.
       The project was cancelled after the Amstrad take-over, however, the
       Pandora concept eventually transformed into the Cambridge Computer
       Z88.

     * Loki: this project was an enhanced ZX Spectrum intended to rival
       the Commodore Amiga. Loki was to have a 7 MHz Z80H CPU, 128 kB of
       RAM and two custom chips providing much enhanced graphics and audio
       capabilities. After the Amstrad buy-out in 1986, two engineers who
       had worked on the project, John Mathieson and Martin Brennan,
       founded Flare Technology to continue their work .

     * Janus: a picture of a mock up of a device with this code-name
       exists, but nothing more is known about it .

     * Bob/Florin: according to Rupert Goodwins, this was a project to
       produce an add-on floppy disk drive for the ZX Spectrum.

     * Tyche: this codename was assigned to a QL follow-on project running
       from 1984 to 1986. Among the features associated with Tyche were
       increased RAM capacity, internal floppy disk drives, the Psion
       Xchange application suite on ROM, and possibly the GEM GUI .

     * Proteus: this was rumoured to be a hypothetical portable version of
       the QL, similar to Pandora.

Facts and trivia

     * Sinclair has famously had a tendency to use the letters Z, X and Q
       in his product names. This is actually a canny piece of marketing
       psychology—those three letters are the least used in British
       English, so their use in a product name immediately catches
       attention.
     * The Sinclair Executive advert described it as being "as thick as a
       cigarette packet", reflecting Clive Sinclair's stated belief that
       "One must always bear a packet of cigarettes in mind as the ideal
       size"; it was a running joke at the company that Sinclair, who
       smoked 40 cigarettes a day at the time, designed everything to be
       the size of a packet of 20 cigarettes.

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   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
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