Analysis of Marketing and Reliability

Abstract

Synchronous electric clock technology consists of two related technologies. One is small synchronous electric motors. The other is a reliable AC mains supply of accurately controlled frequency. By 1930 both of these were mature technologies in America. AC mains supplies of accurately controlled frequency started to become available in the UK in the early 1930s, and there was immediate interest by British manufacturers in the production of domestic synchronous clocks. There are five identifiable phases in the sales of British domestic synchronous clocks. In the UK, domestic synchronous clocks were a new must have technology, and sales boomed during the 1930s. Government restrictions on production led to a lull in sales during the Second World War (1939–1945). In the late 1940s pent up demand for domestic clocks of all types following war time restrictions led to a second sales boom. Sales were broadly level from about 1950 to the late 1960s. Domestic synchronous clock sales declined from the late 1960s onwards and never recovered. By 1980 it was all over. Analysis of possible reasons for the final decline in sales shows that this was due to the poor overall reliability of domestic synchronous clocks. In the 1970s pent up demand for domestic clocks had been satisfied so there was no longer an external driver for sales that overcame the poor overall reliability. Other factors were of secondary importance.