"I did this deal - the first deal I ever did - with Associated Semiconductor Manufacturers (ASM) which was a joint venture betwen Philips and GEC, later wholly-owned by Philips", recalls Sir Clive Sinclair, "ASM made transistors under licence from Philco in the
Financing for the deal was somewhat unorthodox. " I managed to borrow half the money from a girl I knew."
"In those days there weren't many options on where to get transistors," remembers Sir Clive.
Transistor-making, as a commercial activity had only started after 1952 when AT&T, owner of Bell Labs which invented the transistor, held a symposium to explain to potential manufacturers how they could be made.
By 1962, there were still relatively few companies - and they were mostly American - who could manufacture transistors. Those companies wanted to sell to big professional users, so hobbyists and low volume buyers could find it difficult and expensive to get their hands on them..
"Although they were rejects, they were very good transistors", continues Sir Clive, " they simply hadn't met the various specs put on them. For those days they had very high frequency in comparison to anything else - 15MHz - which was dramatic in those days. They hadn't made the specs required by the computer industry but, for the purposes which I was selling them for - which was audio and RF devices - they were absolutely perfect, beautiful.
"I tested them, and gave them four different brand numbers for different gain categories, and wrote a book on how to uses them - published by Babani - and did articles in magazines about them. I also put in ads. I sold those transistors very well."
"I bought them for a shilling (5p) each", he says. The advertisements he ran at the time to sell them quote prices ranging from seven shillings and ninepence (38p) to fifteeen shillings (75p) depending on performance. Enviable margins!
The cash-flow of the business was also enviable because, while his buyers sent in their money with their orders, he could get his advertisements published on credit.
"There were three magazines, really, in those dates Radio Constructor, Practical Wireless and Wireless World so I advertised in those. Fortunately they didn't bother to check up on me because, when I placed the first ad in Radio Constructor, I'd designed the ad myself and I took it round to the magazine and they didn't bother to check up on whether I had any money. I was going to pay the magazine with the money I got from the orders. Which I did. I just assumed that people would send me money and that I would have the money to pay for the ads. And that's what happensed. The cash flow was great."
"That was the start of the business really. I don't know how much money I made from the transistors. That was the first deal, then I went on buying them and bought loads more."
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