Sinclair Research
Tape Data Recovery - Sinclair Research
Sinclair Research is a computer manufacturing company founded by Sir Clive Sinclair.
The company released the first computer ZX80 in 1980. ZX80, with a cost of £99.95, was the cheapest personal computer sold in UK those days. The ZX81 model was launched in 1981. It was sold for £49.95 in kit form and £69.95 ready-built, by mail order.
The next model to follow was ZX Spectrum. By then, Sinclair had sold the license to Timex Corporation to manufacture and market Sinclair’s computers in the USA under the name Timex Sinclair. Released in April 1982, ZX Spectrum became Britain’s best selling computer and competed against Commodore and Amstrad. In July 1982, Timex also launched the TS 1000 (a version of the ZX81) in the US.
In September 1983, Sinclair launched TV80 television, using flat-screen technology unlike Sinclair’s previous CRT televisions. However, TV80 was a commercial failure. The company sold only 15,000 units, without even covering the development costs of £4m. In late 1983, Timex decided to withdraw from the Timex Sinclair venture.
During this period, Sinclair also set up the ‘MetaLab’ research centre at Milton Hall. MetaLab focused in artificial intelligence, wafer scale integration, formal verification and other advanced projects.
In January 1984, Sinclair QL was announced. Sinclair QL was aimed at the business market and cost £399. The model encountered a lot of technical issues and could not start shipping until May. Of the 13,000 orders it received, it could deliver only a few hundred units on time. These machines had insufficient ROM and were shipped with a ‘dongle’ hanging out of the machine containing an additional ROM chip.
The failure of Sinclair QL and TV80 dragged the company into financial troubles. In 1986, Sinclair sold the rights to their computer products and brand name to Amstrad. Sinclair Research currently market Sir Clive Sinclair’s newest inventions.
