Timex will market Sinclair computer

Sinclair Research, maker of the ZX81, the world’s biggest-selling computer, has made a number of major announcements concerning future sales of the machine.

At a press conference held in London last month, Sinclair president Clive Sinclair released details of an extensive marketing agreement with Timex Corporation. Sinclair has licensed Timex to use Sinclair technology to manufacture and market personal computers, peripherals and software throughout North America. (Timex has been the sole manufacturer of Sinclair’s ZX-81 since its invention.)

“Sinclair will phase out its mail order computer business when Timex reaches agreed-upon production levels, which we expect they will do by mid-1982,” said Mary Reinman, public relations counsel for Sinclair. “Then all the marketing will go over to Timex.”

She also said the ZX81 would be renamed and carry both the Sinclair and Timex labels. “Obviously this means Sinclair will have much greater market penetration,” said Reinman. She said Timex will make a separate announcement in the U.S. in March.

Sinclair also announced a major reorganization that will see Nigel Searle (formerly U.S. director for Sinclair), move to the firm’s Cambridge, England, headquarters to head up a new computer division responsible for worldwide sales of Sinclair computers. Mike Pye, a former executive with Honeywell Corporation, will be in charge of Sinclair’s new research division to be based in Winchester, England.

Recently released company sales figures show that between March 1981 and the end of January 1982, Sinclair sold over 300,000 ZX81s worldwide. A company spokesman said production is now up to 60,000 units per month.

The ZX81, which currently retails for about $150, is sold in 18 countries. Until now, U.S. sales have been exclusively mail order. It is not known if Timex plans to immediately market the Sinclair computer heavily through the vast chain of retail stores that carry its products (chiefly watches and clocks) nationwide, or whether it plans to bring it in gradually. It still remains to be seen what kind of servicing arrangements the firm will make.

At its facility in Dundee, Scotland, Timex is also manufacturing the Sinclair “pocket TV,” which employs flat-screen technology and is scheduled for release mid-1982. It is expected to sell for about $100, which is significantly cheaper than a flat-screen television Sony Corporation is said to be working on. The Sony television is scheduled to be released in Japan sometime in 1983.