Editing ZX Spectrum (section)

=== Success and market domination ===
[[File:Micro-computer wordt uitgeleend bij biobliotheek, bij wizej van experiment, Bestanddeelnr 933-0448 (colour).jpg|thumb|right|A woman is loaned a ZX Spectrum from a library in the Netherlands, 1984.]]
A crucial part of the company's marketing strategy was to implement regular price-cutting at strategic intervals to maintain [[market share]]. Ian Adamson and Richard Kennedy noted that Sinclair's method was driven by securing his leading position through "panicking" the competition. While most companies at the time reduced prices of their products while their market share was dwindling, Sinclair Research discounted theirs shortly after sales had peaked, throwing the competition into "utter disarray".{{sfn|Adamson|Kennedy|1986|p=143}} Sinclair Research made a profit of £14 million in 1983, compared to £8.5 million the previous year. [[Asset turnover|Turnover]] doubled from £27.2 million to £54.5 million, which equated to roughly £1 million for each person employed directly by the company.{{sfn|Segre|1983|p=18}}

Clive Sinclair became a focal point during the ZX Spectrum's marketing campaign by putting a human face onto the business. Sinclair Research was portrayed in the media as a "plucky" British challenger taking on the technical and marketing might of giant American and Japanese corporations. As David O'Reilly noted in 1986, "by astute use of public relations, particularly playing up his image of a Briton taking on the world, Sinclair has become the best-known name in micros."{{sfn|Adamson|Kennedy|1986|p=98}} The media latched onto Sinclair's image; his "Uncle Clive" persona is said to have been created by the gossip columnist for ''[[Personal Computer World]]''.{{sfn|Adamson|Kennedy|1986|p=97}} The press praised Sinclair as a visionary genius, with ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'' lauding him as "the most prodigious inventor since [[Leonardo da Vinci]]". Adamson and Kennedy wrote that Sinclair outgrew the role of microcomputer manufacturer and "accepted the mantle of pioneering [[boffin]] leading Britain into a technological utopia".{{sfn|Adamson|Kennedy|1986|p=114}} Sinclair's contribution to the technology sector resulted in him being [[Knight Bachelor|knighted]] upon the recommendation of [[Margaret Thatcher]] in the [[1983 Birthday Honours|Queen's 1983 Birthday Honours List]].<ref name="bbctwo">{{cite web |title=Sir Clive Sinclair: Tireless inventor ahead of his time |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29985976 |website=[[BBC News]] |access-date=18 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518164253/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-29985976 |archive-date=18 May 2023 |location=London |date=16 September 2021}}</ref><ref name=mensabio>{{cite web |url=http://www.mensa.org.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?ap=1&id=279 |title=Biography of Sir Clive Sinclair |access-date=25 September 2007 |last=Goodenough |first=Jan |date=March 2000 |publisher=[[Mensa International|British Mensa]] |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080202182911/http://www.mensa.org.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?ap=1&id=279 |archive-date=2 February 2008}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last1=Bates |first1=Stephen |title=Sir Clive Sinclair obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/sep/17/sir-clive-sinclair |work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=3 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326032914/https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/sep/17/sir-clive-sinclair |archive-date=26 March 2023 |location=London |date=17 September 2021}}</ref>

The United Kingdom was largely immunised from the effects of the [[video game crash of 1983]], due to the saturation of home computers such as the ZX Spectrum.{{sfn|Leigh|2018|p=104}}<ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.ign.com/articles/2011/09/21/ten-facts-about-the-great-video-game-crash-of-83 | title = Ten Facts about the Great Video Game Crash of '83 | first = Nadia | last = Oxford | date = 18 January 2012 | access-date = 11 September 2020 | work = [[IGN]] | archive-date = 28 January 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210128072326/https://www.ign.com/articles/2011/09/21/ten-facts-about-the-great-video-game-crash-of-83 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="nerd">{{cite web |last1=Leigh |first1=Peter |title=ZX Spectrum Story: Celebrating 35 Years of the Speccy |url=https://www.nostalgianerd.com/zx-spectrum-story/ |publisher=Nostalgia Nerd |access-date=23 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230804184058/https://www.nostalgianerd.com/zx-spectrum-story/ |archive-date=4 August 2023 |date=21 April 2017}}</ref> The microcomputer market continued to grow and game development was unhindered despite the turbulence in the American markets. Indeed, computer games remained the dominant sector of the British home video game market up until they were surpassed by [[Sega]] and [[Nintendo]] consoles in 1991.{{sfn|His Majesty's Stationery Office|1995|pp=[https://i.imgur.com/CLYiKIp.jpg 66], [https://i.imgur.com/vR9vtPX.jpg 68]}} By the end of 1983 there were more than 450 companies in Britain selling video games on cassette, compared to 95 the year before.<ref name="wired uk history">{{cite magazine | url = https://www.wired.com/2010/06/sinclair-zx80/ | title = Sinclair ZX80 and the Dawn of 'Surreal' U.K. Game Industry | first = Chris | last = Baker | date = 6 August 2010 | access-date = 30 September 2019 | magazine = [[Wired (magazine)|Wired]] | archive-date = 26 July 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20190726200228/https://www.wired.com/2010/06/sinclair-zx80/ | url-status = live }}</ref> An estimated 10,000 to 50,000 people, mostly young men, were developing games out of their homes based on advertisements in popular magazines. The growth of video games during this period has been compared to the [[punk subculture]], fuelled by young people making money from their games.<ref name="independent origins">{{cite web | url = https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/geeks-who-rocked-the-world-documentary-looks-back-at-origins-of-the-computer-games-industry-9997037.html | title = Geeks Who Rocked The World: Documentary Looks Back At Origins Of The Computer-games Industry | first = Rhordi | last = Mardsen | date = 25 January 2015 | access-date = 3 October 2019 | work = [[The Independent]] | archive-date = 9 November 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191109005014/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/features/geeks-who-rocked-the-world-documentary-looks-back-at-origins-of-the-computer-games-industry-9997037.html | url-status = live }}</ref>

By the mid 1980s, Sinclair Research's share of the British home computer market had climbed to a high of 40 per cent.<ref name=newyorkdeal/> Sales in the 1984 Christmas season were described as "extremely good".{{sfn|Bourne|1985a|p=7}} In early 1985 the British press reported the home computer boom to have ended,<ref>{{cite web |title=The 80s home computer boom (video) |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0336d72 |website=[[BBC Radio 4]] |publisher=[[BBC]] |access-date=24 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150926051715/https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p0336d72 |archive-date=26 September 2015 |location=London |date=22 September 2015 |url-status=live}}</ref> leaving many companies slashing prices of their hardware to anticipate lower sales.{{sfn|Bourne|1985a|p=7}} Despite this, celebration of Sinclair's success in the computing market continued at the ''[[Which?|Which Computer?]]'' show in [[Birmingham]], where the five-millionth Sinclair machine (a gold coloured QL) was issued as a prize.{{sfn|Bourne|1985a|p=7}}