Acorn has done a U-turn in the US, paring its operating there to the bone.

Competing with the big boys on their home ground proved too much. Fierce price-cutting and big money spending on advertising pushed Acorn out into the cold.

It was about a year ago that Chris Curry, Acorn's managing director, took his British-made computer across the Atlantic.

At the time Curry revealed that he expected to lose several million dollars in the first two years of operations, but thereafter reap substantial earnings.

Unfortunately things didn't go according to plan and the BBC Micro just didn't take off. A spokesma for Acorn admitted: "Sales were poor.

"Monthly sales weren't rising quickly enough to justify further investment in the venture. The company couldn't acheive the revenues and profits it wanted - so the operations have been reduced to 20 per cent."

What this lower level of activity means is that the company has had to close its Boston warehouse and will make most of its 40 administrative and marketing staff redundant. However, it will maintain its small research facility in Palo Alto, California.

As it stands, the US operation is being reduced to about five staff who will service customers. But Acorn feels that there is still a chance it will return to the US market with a bit more confidence.