<s>
The	O
Sinclair	B-Device
Sovereign	I-Device
was	O
a	O
high-end	O
calculator	B-Application
introduced	O
by	O
Clive	O
Sinclair	O
's	O
company	O
Sinclair	O
Radionics	O
in	O
1976	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
was	O
an	O
attempt	O
to	O
escape	O
from	O
the	O
unprofitable	O
low	O
end	O
of	O
the	O
market	O
,	O
and	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
last	O
calculators	B-Application
Sinclair	O
produced	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Made	O
with	O
a	O
case	O
of	O
pressed	O
steel	O
that	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
finishes	O
,	O
it	O
cost	O
between	O
and	O
at	O
a	O
time	O
when	O
other	O
calculators	B-Application
could	O
be	O
purchased	O
for	O
under	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
A	O
number	O
of	O
factors	O
meant	O
that	O
the	O
Sovereign	O
was	O
not	O
a	O
commercial	O
success	O
,	O
including	O
the	O
cost	O
,	O
high	O
import	O
levies	O
on	O
components	O
,	O
competition	O
from	O
cheaper	O
calculators	B-Application
manufactured	O
abroad	O
,	O
and	O
the	O
development	O
of	O
more	O
power-efficient	O
designs	O
using	O
liquid-crystal	B-Device
displays	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
had	O
a	O
Mostek	O
MK50321N	O
main	O
integrated	O
circuit	O
and	O
a	O
small	O
memory	B-General_Concept
register	I-General_Concept
,	O
a	O
LED	O
display	O
,	O
and	O
could	O
perform	O
a	O
variety	O
of	O
a	O
number	O
of	O
basic	O
mathematical	O
operations	O
besides	O
four-function	O
arithmetic	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sovereign	O
was	O
one	O
of	O
the	O
last	O
calculators	B-Application
produced	O
during	O
Sinclair	O
's	O
foray	O
into	O
the	O
calculator	B-Application
market	O
that	O
had	O
started	O
with	O
the	O
Sinclair	B-Device
Executive	I-Device
in	O
September	O
1972	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Executive	O
had	O
retailed	O
for	O
when	O
introduced	O
,	O
but	O
in	O
little	O
over	O
a	O
year	O
it	O
was	O
possible	O
to	O
purchase	O
a	O
Sinclair	O
calculator	B-Application
for	O
and	O
by	O
November	O
1976	O
a	O
model	O
was	O
available	O
for	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Cheaper	O
calculators	B-Application
with	O
liquid-crystal	B-Device
displays	I-Device
instead	O
of	O
light-emitting	O
diodes	O
were	O
becoming	O
more	O
popular	O
,	O
and	O
had	O
much	O
longer	O
battery	O
lives	O
of	O
months	O
or	O
years	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Such	O
calculators	B-Application
were	O
available	O
for	O
well	O
under	O
,	O
with	O
all	O
the	O
functionality	O
of	O
the	O
more	O
expensive	O
models	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
impossibility	O
of	O
selling	O
"	O
simple	O
"	O
calculators	B-Application
profitably	O
led	O
Sinclair	O
to	O
introduce	O
models	O
such	O
as	O
the	O
Cambridge	O
Scientific	O
,	O
introduced	O
in	O
August	O
1975	O
at	O
a	O
price	O
of	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sovereign	O
,	O
released	O
in	O
1976	O
,	O
represented	O
an	O
attempt	O
to	O
move	O
upmarket	B-Application
in	O
an	O
increasingly	O
saturated	O
market	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sovereign	O
was	O
made	O
in	O
England	O
,	O
like	O
every	O
other	O
Sinclair	O
calculator	B-Application
except	O
the	O
President	B-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sinclair	O
would	O
shortly	O
stop	O
producing	O
calculators	B-Application
and	O
instead	O
focus	O
on	O
computers	O
,	O
starting	O
with	O
the	O
MK14	B-Device
in	O
1977	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
loss	O
of	O
the	O
calculator	B-Application
market	O
was	O
due	O
in	O
part	O
to	O
technological	O
development	O
leading	O
to	O
smaller	O
and	O
cheaper	O
components	O
,	O
which	O
put	O
heavy	O
pressure	O
on	O
profit	O
margins	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
import	O
levy	O
of	O
up	O
to	O
17.5	O
%	O
was	O
placed	O
on	O
components	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
duty	O
for	O
calculators	B-Application
imported	O
from	O
Japan	O
or	O
Hong	O
Kong	O
could	O
be	O
as	O
little	O
as	O
5%	O
,	O
making	O
it	O
unprofitable	O
to	O
produce	O
calculators	B-Application
in	O
the	O
UK	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Sinclair	O
also	O
had	O
some	O
problems	O
with	O
the	O
reliability	O
of	O
earlier	O
calculators	B-Application
that	O
had	O
adversely	O
affected	O
its	O
reputation	O
,	O
but	O
the	O
Sovereign	O
was	O
sold	O
with	O
a	O
"	O
full	O
and	O
unconditional	O
"	O
five	O
year	O
guarantee	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
It	O
had	O
an	O
8-digit	O
seven-segment	B-General_Concept
display	I-General_Concept
that	O
used	O
red	O
light-emitting	O
diodes	O
,	O
with	O
a	O
decimal	O
point	O
to	O
the	O
right	O
of	O
each	O
digit	O
that	O
could	O
be	O
illuminated	O
as	O
necessary	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Power	O
was	O
provided	O
by	O
two	O
1.35	O
mercury	O
button	B-Algorithm
cells	I-Algorithm
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sovereign	O
measured	O
,	O
which	O
made	O
it	O
small	O
and	O
sleek	O
compared	O
to	O
other	O
calculators	B-Application
of	O
the	O
time	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
With	O
an	O
eight-digit	O
display	O
,	O
the	O
calculator	B-Application
could	O
display	O
positive	O
numbers	O
between	O
0.0000001	O
and	O
99	O
,	O
999	O
,	O
999	O
,	O
and	O
negative	O
numbers	O
between	O
-0.000001	O
and	O
-9	O
,	O
999,999	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Calculators	B-Application
of	O
the	O
time	O
tended	O
to	O
have	O
displays	O
of	O
between	O
3	O
and	O
12	O
digits	O
,	O
as	O
reducing	O
the	O
number	O
of	O
digits	O
was	O
an	O
effective	O
way	O
of	O
reducing	O
the	O
cost	O
of	O
the	O
calculator	B-Application
.	O
</s>
<s>
An	O
independent	O
memory	B-General_Concept
register	I-General_Concept
could	O
read	O
information	O
from	O
the	O
screen	O
,	O
and	O
information	O
could	O
only	O
be	O
taken	O
from	O
the	O
memory	O
onto	O
the	O
screen	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
The	O
Sovereign	O
used	O
a	O
Mostek	O
MK50321N	O
main	O
integrated	O
circuit	O
,	O
the	O
same	O
as	O
the	O
Sinclair	B-Device
Wrist	I-Device
Calculator	I-Device
and	O
some	O
variants	O
of	O
the	O
Sinclair	B-Device
Cambridge	I-Device
.	O
</s>
<s>
Clive	O
Sinclair	O
had	O
assumed	O
that	O
people	O
would	O
prefer	O
attractive	O
illuminated	O
LED	O
displays	O
to	O
LCD	B-Device
displays	I-Device
,	O
which	O
incidentally	O
also	O
required	O
more	O
expensive	O
CMOS	B-Device
chips	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
However	O
,	O
his	O
calculators	B-Application
were	O
designed	O
with	O
the	O
assumption	O
they	O
would	O
be	O
turned	O
off	O
between	O
calculations	O
,	O
which	O
did	O
not	O
prove	O
to	O
be	O
the	O
case	O
.	O
</s>
<s>
Advertisements	O
suggested	O
that	O
the	O
batteries	O
would	O
last	O
"	O
about	O
a	O
year	O
"	O
under	O
normal	O
use	O
,	O
but	O
in	O
reality	O
the	O
small	O
button	B-Algorithm
cell	I-Algorithm
batteries	O
and	O
comparatively	O
high	O
power	O
consumption	O
meant	O
a	O
short	O
battery	O
life	O
compared	O
to	O
the	O
competition	O
.	O
</s>
