| sinclairvoyance |
AS CHRISTMAS approaches, hundreds of small firms are gearing to meet the expected glut of orders. To the surprise of many, the market for Sinclair computers and their software and hardware additions appears to be affected by the normal seasonal fluctuations.
During the summer months, few people were interested in staying inside looking at a television screen. With the colder weather and the darker evenings, so much heat is generated by the ZX-81s and Spectrums that the central heating can be turned off.
Other factors, such as the launch of the Spectrum, have had an effect on this but the basic underlying pattern seems to be the same as for most consumer items.
Last year there was a big increase in the demand for the ZX-81 in the run-up to Christmas. This year there are likely to be even more stockings filled with items from the Sinclair market.
It will be a big test of the ability of the market to meet the demand. Judging by the letters of complaint which we receive, the biggest test will be for Sinclair Research. Despite many of the companies in the market being small, part-time concerns, we receive very few letters about late or non-delivery of items ordered. By contrast, we have been flooded with letters referring to the problems of the Spectrum.
By the time this edition of Sinclair User is being read, Sinclair Research hopes to have cleared the backlog of orders for the Spectrum. Those hopes, however, are based on a gamble.
Last year the ZX-81 was put on sale in the U.S. and into W H Smith before Christmas. Both those acts, combined with the seasonal increase in demand, resulted in the now-familiar queues of orders.
This year the company tried to avoid that problem by delaying the move into the States and the retail market with the Spectrum. Other problems were sufficient to ensure that delays still occurred.
In the last month deliveries have been increasing and the letters of complaint have fallen to a trickle. Before delivery could be guaranteed at the stated 28 days, however, Sinclair Research decided to try to increase sales. First there was the special education offer to encourage schools to buy the Spectrum and then more recently there was the special offer in The Observer which promised there were 500 Spectrums ready for despatch. Also advertisements for the new machine have appeared for the first time in the non-specialist press.
The aim is obviously to catch the Christmas market but the gamble is that the orders could swamp the present level of production. If people order before Christmas on the promise of 28 days' delivery, they will be even more disappointed than the many who ordered them in the early summer ready for the summer holidays if they do not arrive in time.
As has been argued many times previously, people do not mind waiting for a machine as good and efficient as the Spectrum if they know they will have to wait. If they order something for Christmas and it does not arrive until February, they will not be so understanding.
We hope that the gamble succeeds. The more satisfied Sinclair users there are the more there are likely to be in the future and the greater the potential readership for Sinclair User. The danger is that delivery dates would deteriorate quickly, with a corresponding decrease in the reputation of Sinclair Research. The company may have had a good lead on its competitors but brand loyalty can be stretched too far, as many other British industries have discovered.
The long-awaited arrival of the Japanese in the home computer market is here. It will be interesting to see how they cope with the pressures of this fast-expanding market in the next year.
In the meantime, we would like to wish all our readers a very merry Christmas. We hope you have many happy hours learning to use your Sinclair computers and promise that we will continue to keep you informed of all that is happening in the market.
After launching our special section devoted to the Spectrum, Spectrum User, in September we have decided to absorb it into the rest of Sinclair User.
We have made the move to allow us more flexibility in the presentation of information in the magazine. To split the coverage between the Spectrum and the ZX-81 and ZX-80 was proving to be too rigid to permit us to provide the best coverage of the market. From now, all the machines will be covered in all parts of the magazine in our normally comprehensive way.