By Jason Crisp
DEVELOPMENT PROBLEMS have delayed deliveries of Sinclair Research's new QL computer, the company said yesterday.
Deliveries of the £400 computer will not start until the end of March. New customers are being told they will have to wait until June.
The QL was launched in a blaze of publicity at the beginning of January. First deliveries were promised for the end of February. Last night Sinclair Research said the delay was caused by the final stages of development taking longer than planned. It would not specify what the development problem was.
Sinclair Research has been strongly criticised for delays with previous product launches. The company has been overwhelmed with demand for the QL which it has been unable to meet. At one stage, orders were being placed at 500 a day.
The company has been writing to customers warning them they will not receive the computer until the end of April or May. Sinclair said last night that those who had received these letters would not be affected by the development problem as this had already been taken into account.
The Advertising Standards Authority has received only a handful of complaints about Sinclair advertisements in the trade press which promised 28 day deliveries. When Sinclair launched the Spectrum, its last computer, the authority received a record number of complaints and was highly critical of the company.
