1980s
|
| 1980 |
|
| January |
- Sinclair Electronics becomes Thandar Electronics
Ltd, and Sinclair Radionics ceases to exist
|
| February |
|
| March |
-
Science of Cambridge profit £131,000 on turnover
of £640,000
-
Work starts on HK BASIC upgrade
|
| September |
- New 8K ROM for ZX80
with extended BASIC announced at £19.95
|
| November |
- Science of Cambridge Ltd becomes Sinclair Computers
Ltd
- New ROM for ZX80
withdrawn
- Clive appointed Chairman of British Mensa
|
| 1981 |
|
| February |
- £5m, four-year capital investment in flat-screen
TV production announced by Sinclair for Timex
plant includes £2.6m grants from Department of Industry
and SEPD
- First flat-screen TV production models to be called
Microvision 2700, priced 'about £50' and 'expected
summer 1982'
- Clive announces ZX80
will be linked to flat-screen-TV 'some time next year'
|
| March |
- ZX80
ads announce 16K
RAM pack memory add-on and claim 'over
20,000' sold
- Sinclair Computers Ltd becomes Sinclair Research
Ltd
- Clive denies ZX range will use flat-screen TV. ZX81
launched at £69.95 built, £49.95 kit. 16K
RAM pack £49.95. ZX80
discontinued after sales of some 50,000 units.
ZX Printer announced
for June
- Sinclair Research pretax profits £818,000 on turnover
of £4.6m
- Clive receives £242,000 in past year
- ZX81
square root bug discovered
|
| April |
- Despite Clive's assurances, users still finding
faults in RAM packs.
|
| May |
- Sinclair offer secondary schools the opportunity
to purchase one ZX81
and RAM
pack at 46 per cent discount
- '4- or 5-inch flat screen will be incorporated into
ZX81,'
says Clive
|
| June |
- Sinclair Browne Ltd publishing company formed
|
| July |
- ZX81
delivery delays of up to nine weeks reported
|
| September |
|
| October |
- ZX81
sales exceed 100,000 Mitsui take ZX81
for sale in Japan American Express test-market mail
order ZX81s
|
| December |
- ZX81
sales exceed 250,000 with monthly production of 50,000.
Faulty ROMs still being shipped
- ICL announces plans to use Sinclair BASIC and flat-tube
TV for 'One-Per-Desk'
terminal/telephone workstation
|
| 1982 |
|
| February |
- Timex
are licensed to manufacture and market Sinclair products
in USA
|
| March |
- Sinclair Research profits of £8.55m on turnover
of £27.17m, including £383,000 government grants for
flat screen
- Clive receives £1m 'bonus' on top of £13,000 salary
for past year
- Employees' total salary £400,000
- ZX81
discounted to $53 by some retailers in US
|
| April |
|
| June |
|
| July |
- Spectrums
start to roll off production lines after initial ULA
chip problems resolved
- Spectrum
approved for use in secondary schools under government
support scheme
- Annual three-week holiday at Timex
halts Spectrum
production
- Timex
launch TS1000
(ZX81
version) in US
|
| August |
- ZX81
price cut to £49.95. Boots start retail sales of ZX81,
Prism Microproducts to start wholesaling ZX81s
|
| September |
- Sinclair throws in free printer
and LOGO language program with every Spectrum
bought under government's 'Micros in Primaries' scheme
- Currys and John Menzies start retail sales of ZX81
|
| October |
- ZX81
sales exceed 500,000 worldwide
- Sinclair claims adverts for Dragon computers used
Spectrum
details in misleading fashion
- Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) upholds complaints
against Spectrum
ads on grounds of 'appalling delays' in delivery
|
| November |
- W.H. Smith's agree to take Spectrum
on retail basis, order 6,000 but 'only 300 turned
up'
|
| December |
- Spectrum
order backlog still three months
- Sinclair confirms new computer under development,
to incorporate 'flat screen' and 'dual microfloppies'
|
| 1983 |
|
| January |
- Spectrum
launched at Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show
- Sinclair threatens to stop production at Timex
Dundee plant if strike over redundancies takes place
- N. M. Rothschild & Son place 400,000 shares
(10 per cent of equity) of Sinclair Research at £34
each with financial institutions, valuing the company
at £136m. Clive now owns 85 per cent, gains £13.6m
as result of sale
|
| February |
- Boots, John Menzies and Currys start retail sales
of Spectrum,
Prism starts wholesaling
- First Sinclair Prize for Fiction won by Death
is Part of the Process by Hilda Bernstein
- Computer division of Sinclair moves to Willis Rd,
Cambridge
|
| March |
- Sinclair Research profits of £13.8m on £54.53m
turnover, including £1.1m flat TV grants. Clive's
salary £82,000
- Spectrum
sales 200,000. Searle heads Computer Division, and
is MD. Clive heads Advance Products Division. Employs
fifty-five staff, but claims creation of 'more than
2000' jobs
- 14,000 Spectrum
faulty power packs recalled
- Clive wins 'Young Businessman of the Year Award'
from Guardian
|
| April |
|
| May |
- Price cuts: Spectrum
dropped to £99.95 (16K), £129.95 (48K),
ZX Printer price
cut to £39.95, ZX81
to £39.95
- Kempston launch Centronics (parallel) standard printer
interface (£45) and joystick interface (£25)
for Spectrum
- Micronet 800 launch Prestel/teletext adaptor for
Spectrum
- 16K
to 48K upgrade (£60) becomes available
one year after promised
- Plans for official Spectrum Modem scrapped on grounds
of lack of profit margins
- Microdrive
launch announced for end of May, and 'ZX84 to be a
portable' says Searle
- Richard Cutting recruited to head 'MetaLab' research
centre
|
| June |
|
| July |
-
ZX Interface 1 and Microdrives
launched. Interface
1 is £29.95 with Microdrive(s),
£49.95 without, Microdrives
£49.95 each, cartridges £4.95 each - supply is rationed
by Sinclair
- Milton Hall, bought for £2m, becomes the home of
MetaLab
- ZX81
shipments 'in excess of 30,000' a month but W. H.
Smith cut back machine and software purchases owing
to 'lack of demand'
- Timex
announce TS1500 upgrade of TS1000 with 16K memory
at $80, and TS2000 version of Spectrum
at $150 (16K) and $200. (48K)
- Issue
3 of Spectrum
board, with redesigned ULA, is shipped, not compatible
with some software for earlier issues
|
| September |
- Sinclair flat-screen
pocket TV launched at £79.95. Uses Polaroid
battery packs at £3.30 each
- Interface
II joystick and ROM cartridge add-on for
Spectrum
launched at £19.95
- Prism produce Spectrum Modem at £99.95
- Sinclair claims Issue
3 board problems due to 'unprofessional
practices' by software houses
|
| October |
- Clive allocates £400,000 for 'deluxe Knightsbridge
dwelling' construction from £1m 'bonus' from Sinclair
Research for year ending March 1982. Y/E March 1983
took merely his salary of £82,000
|
| December |
- Flat-screen
TV price increased to £99.95
- £50,000 ad campaign started for TV,
W. H. Smith's order 7000 for Xmas, 'only 300' turn
up
|
| 1984 |
|
| January |
|
| February |
- Timex
discontinue computer production in US
|
| March |
- Sinclair Research profits £14.28m on turnover of
£77.69m, including £309,000 government grants
|
| April |
|
| May |
- First reported delivery of a QL
to mail order customer - but returned within a week
- ASA upholds complaints on QL
advertising delivery claims, and Spectrum Chess program
advertising
- Sinclair Vehicles moves to University of Warwick
Science Park. Barry Wills is MD
|
| June |
|
| July |
- QL
production reported to be '2000 a week'
- Corrected versions of QL
User Guide due in August. Expects 250,000 QLs
to be sold by end 1985
- Improved Psion software promised for 'later in the
year'
- AB Electronics (South Wales) and Samsung Electronics
(Korea) appointed as Spectrum
assemblers. Projected 200,000 a month production of
Spectrums
by end 1984, 50,000 a month for QL,
20,000 a month for flat-screen
TV
|
| August |
- Spectrum LOGO language launched by Sinclair at
£39.00
|
| September |
|
| October |
|
| November |
- ICL's 'One-Per-Desk'
workstation launched, using Sinclair Microdrives
and SuperBASIC
- Sinclair predicts record sales of 400,000 Spectrums
in fourth quarter. 175,000 Spectrums
to be shipped in December
- Spectrum
shipments reach 2m units
- £4m ad campaign starts
|
| 1985 |
|
| January |
- 10 Jan - C5
electric tricycle launched at £399
- 16 Jan - Sinclair shows
FM wristwatch radio
at Las Vegas Consumer Electronics Show in US
- 20 Jan -
Spectrum+ price dropped to £129.95, 48K
Spectrum discontinued. Upgrade
of Spectrum
to
Spectrum+ offered for £30 (kit £20)
- 30 Jan - Microdrive
cartridge price dropped to £1.99 as cartridge sales
reach 750,000. Free duplication and bulk carriage
purchase offered to software houses to boost QL
software
|
| February |
- QL
production suspended
- ICL launch 'One-Per-Desk'
workstation with microdrives,
version of SuperBASIC, Psion packages
- 7 Feb - Sinclair aborts stock market flotation
- 9 Feb - Sinclair Vehicles reports 5,000 orders
for C5
- 20 Feb - Sinclair Research restructures into
TV and Communications Division (headed by Bill Jeffrey,
brought in from Mars Electronics) and Computer Division
(headed by Davis Chatten, ex-Sinclair Production Director).
Hugo Davenport appointed Engineering Director (ex-Solatron-Schlumberger)
- Nigel Searle transfers to head US operation for
QL,
FM wristwatch radio and flat-screen
TV mail order
- Sinclair holds overseas distributors conference,
displaying thirty-three software packages and seventeen
peripherals available or projected for the QL
- 22 Feb - Improved Version 2.0 Psion software
for the QL
announced, to be shipped with new QLs.
Free upgrades provided to QLUB members
|
| March |
- Production faults on C5
halt production for three weeks
- Unemployed teenagers hired to drive C5s
around London, Manchester, Birmingham and Leeds
- 12 Mar - Plans to form and seek funding for
separate company for wafer-scale chips under Robb
Wilmot are announced by Clive. Wilmot appointed a
director of Sinclair Research
- Institutions holding 10 per cent shares told profits
to December £7.9m on £89m turnover, stocks held £34m
- 25 Mar - Intensive TV and press marketing
campaign for QL
starts. Sinclair states it 'intends' to sell 200,000
QLs
this year
|
| April |
- Figures (not released until November) show pre-tax
loss of £18m on turnover of £102m. £22m written off
for decrease in stock value and bad debts
- 14 Apr - Dutch ban C5
- 16 Apr - Spanish language QL
launched
- 25 Apr - ASA upholds complaints on unsubstantiated
claims in C5
adverts in draft report
- Hoover cut C5
workforce from 100 to 12 and production from 1000
a week to 100
|
| May |
- Several London retailers discount QL
prices in stores
- Hoover make C5
production controller redundant
- 14 May - French language QL
launched
- 28 May - Sinclair confirms it is seeking
£10m-15m to 'fund long-term growth and restructuring'
and a new chief executive to replace Clive in this
role, denies Clive intends to relinquish his position
as chairman, and counters reports of weak computer
market by stating they shipped 300,000 Spectrums
in pre-Xmas period
|
| June |
- 2 June - Sinclair Vehicles confirms it is
looking to sell company. 'About 9000' C5s
sold
- 6 June - Timex
sell Spectrums
directly to Zeta Services to reduce debts owed by
Sinclair Research
- 17 June - Robert Maxwell announces rescue
bid for Sinclair Research, which has £15m debts. Deal
to leave Clive with 8 percent, chairmanship and consultancy
- Sinclair announces wafer-scale integration process
proven viable for commercial production, to be used
in 500K memory add-on for QL
|
| July |
- Timex
lay off 400 workers from Spectrum
assembly line, but continue flat-screen
TV production
- Boots say
Spectrum+ returns running at 20-30 per
cent
- 13 July - Hoover issue writ against Clive
for £1.5m due for work done on C5,
but it is not served
- 17 July - ASA uphold four out of five complaints
on misleading C5
adverts
|
| August |
- 9 Aug - Maxwell aborts Sinclair Research
takeover
- Dixons take 160,000 computers and flat-screen
TVs for £10m
- 13 Aug - Hoover stops C5
production
- 24 Aug - QL
price cut from £399 to £199.95
|
| September |
- Sinclair Vehicles renamed as TPD Ltd
- Comet cuts C5
price to £189, including accessories
- 19 Sep - Digital Research confirms talks
taking place with Sinclair over GEM operating system
for QL
- 23 Sep - Spectrum
128K version unveiled at Barcelona Computer
Fair, result of joint venture with Investronica and
Sinclair Research
|
| October |
- 14 Oct - Receivers called in to TPD Ltd (ex-Sinclair
Vehicles Ltd). Only 4500 C5s
sold in total
- 17 Oct - 'Pandora'
'68000-based' portable scheduled for April 1986, at
£300
- 25 Oct - 'Enigma' leaked to Your Computer,
May 1986, 3.5-inch discs, mouse, monitor, printer
and Psion packages for '£500-1000'. 'Pandora'
will be Spectrum
(Z80 chip) based
- 'Personal Communicator' L99 portable cellnet phone
leaked to pres
|
| November |
- 6 Nov - TPD Ltd (ex-Sinclair Vehicles) goes
into voluntary liquidation with debts of £6.4m.
- Sinclair Vehicles (Sales) Ltd to continue electric
car projects
|
| 1986 |
|
| February |
- 6 Feb - Timex
take over worldwide marketing and distribution of
flat-screen
TV, with price cut to £79.95
- 13 Feb - Spectrum
128K launched in UK. New sound chip, video
output, improved BASIC editor, full keyboard input,
nonstandard RS232 port, keypad interface and no 'dot
crawl', with 128K memory for £179.95. Numeric keypad
available separately for £19.95. Disc drive promised.
Clive says "'Pandora" could just be a CP/M
machine'
|
| April |
- C5s
go on sale in the USA, at $595 complete, $395 kit
- 7 Apr - Amstrad pays £5m for all rights to
existing Sinclair computer products, and commits £11m
for outstanding orders and work in progress. Sinclair
Research becomes research and consultancy, two separate
subsidiaries to be formed, one with Timex
holding 75 per cent for portable phone project, one
with Barclays Bank funding for wafer-scale development
|
| July |
- 7 July - Anamartic Ltd launched. Seeks to
raise £6m to produce waferscale memory device for
production early 1987
|
