Sinclair QL

The missed opportunity

The Sinclair QL (Quantum Leap) was a computer developed and marketed by Sinclair Research, a company founded by British entrepreneur Sir Clive Sinclair, and released in 1984. The Sinclair QL differed significantly from the company’s popular ZX Spectrum; it was aimed at more serious users, such as small businesses and technically oriented hobbyists. Although the QL was technically innovative, it suffered from a number of problems that limited its commercial success.

Sinclair Research had achieved enormous success in the early 1980s with the ZX Spectrum, a low-cost home computer. Inspired by the commercial success of the Spectrum, Clive Sinclair decided to expand his company’s product line and target a broader market, particularly small businesses and advanced users. The Sinclair QL was unveiled in January 1984. Its name, Quantum Leap, reflected the company’s ambition to make a huge leap forward in the computer market. The rush to launch resulted in a half-finished product, which led to problems. The Sinclair QL was manufactured in the UK. Inexpensive components were used in the design to keep costs down, which was Sinclair Research’s strategy. This was evident in both the technical choices made for the computer and its plastic casing. The goal was to sell the device for less than £400, which was significantly less than competing computers. The Sinclair QL incorporated many advanced technologies of the time that made it a competitive computer, such as the Motorola 68008 processor, which was a cheaper and lighter version of the Motorola 68000 processor. The processor ran at a clock speed of 7.5 MHz. It came standard with 128 kilobytes of RAM, which could be expanded to up to 640 kilobytes. The storage medium was a Microdrive, which used fast but unfortunately unreliable tape cassettes for data storage. QL supported two video modes: either a 256 × 256 pixel graphics mode with 8 colors, or a more limited 512 × 256 pixel mode for word processing. The operating system was QDOS, Sinclair’s own operating system.

Sales figures for the Sinclair QL were disappointing, especially when compared to the company’s previous successful products. It is estimated that between 150,000 and 200,000 units were sold during its lifetime. This was significantly less than the sales figures for the Commodore 64 or ZX Spectrum, for example, which sold in the millions. The QL was most popular in the UK, which was Sinclair Research’s home market. Elsewhere in Europe, the device received a mixed reception, and in the US, the QL failed to gain a foothold, as the market there was already strongly dominated by the Apple II and IBM PC. At the time of its release, the Sinclair QL cost around £399 in the UK, which was significantly less than most other 16/32-bit computers. However, the price was still too high for many home users, who preferred cheaper home computers. In Finland, the price of the device settled at around 5,000–6,000 marks. The Sinclair QL was an ambitious but unfinished product that attempted to fill two market niches – the business sector and the hobbyist market – without fully succeeding in either. Although it did not achieve great commercial success, its memory lives on strongly among hobbyists. The Sinclair QL has been featured in various computer exhibitions, such as I love 8-bit®, which showcases the history of computers and consoles from the 1980s. The QL’s unique history and technical innovations have made it an interesting collector’s item.