Sirius XM 2.0 Radios Due in 2011; Retail Lift Seen
August 4, 2010 by Amy Gilroy
Filed under Car 1
Sirius XM said it will launch Satellite Radio 2.0 radios to be available in retail stores for the 2011 holiday season and that retail sales are showing improvement.
Without giving many specifics, Sirius XM CEO Mel Karmazin said, “Sirius XM is very committed to continue to innovate. Satellite Radio 2.0 will take it to a new level…Our next generation of satellite radios are expected to offer more choices for the consumer and contain functionality that does not exist today.” He reiterated the radios will allow for more channels and more capacity.
Later in a Sirius XM financial call with analysts, the new radios were referred to as Sirius XM 2.0. Executive Jim Meyer said that he believes the new radios will help boost sales at the retail level, which have already begun to improve.
Sirius XM pointed to a deceleration in the losses of retail subscribers. Meyer said, “We were very encouraged; for the first time in a lot of quarters, we saw an improvement. I’m cautiously optimistic that things are turning around…The biggest driver will be Sirius XM 2.0 and a redefine of the features that make it unique.”
For the second quarter ended June 30, retail subscribers declined by 143,000 compared to a decline of 301,000 for the same period last year. OEM and rental subscribers gained in the quarter with total net additions of almost 600,000.
The new 2.0 radios will also roll out to new cars “as soon as they are able to incorporate this into their production schedules,” Karmazin added.
An announcement on “what’s going on with Howard [Sterm]” will be made prior to Sirius XM’s Q3 earnings call said Karmazin.
Source: CEoutlook
Make it sound better than an audio greeting card and maybe people will pay for it.
Unfortunately, the horribly compressed audio will continue to drive away any serious potential customers who are willing to pay for music customized to their tastes. The masses don’t care about sound quality but they also won’t pay extra for subscription radio. Take the format upstream and offer more than just content. Offer quality! HD radio will win the battle at this pace; it’s a no-brainer!
Just my 2 cents…
Paid sat. radio is on the shorted side of your investments.