[IRCA] Study: 55 million satellite radios by 2010

["Kevin R. in Gilbert, AZ" <amfmdx@xxxxxxxxx>]

Study: 55 million satellite radios by 2010
 By  CNET News.com Staff,  CNET News.com
 Published on ZDNet News: November 22, 2005, 10:48 AM PT

The U.S. market for digital satellite radio will increase at a compound
annual growth rate of 35 percent, pushing up the installed base of receiving
devices to 55 million units in 2010, from the current 12 million, according
to a Jupiter Research study released Tuesday.

Twenty-three percent of the online consumers Jupiter Research interviewed
expressed interest in the service, but only a quarter of them presently have
a satellite radio. XM leads the nascent market for nationwide pay radio,
with more than double the number of subscribers at rival Sirius Satellite
Radio.

But the satellite radio companies may also face stiff competition from other
forms of portable music. "The primary challenges for Sirius and XM are price
and competition with other portable media players and music services, such
as iPods and iTunes, respectively," David Schatsky, senior vice president of
research at Jupiter Research, said in a statement.

The growth will also depend on how the satellite radio service providers
transform themselves. To spur the growth, they'll have to move beyond the
automobile segment and integrate satellite radio into other devices such as
cell phones.

 Integration with these other devices could also provide the opportunity to
offer Internet streaming service to both current and new customers, using
fast wireless networks, the study said.

 At present, approximately two-thirds of satellite receivers sold by XM and
Sirius are transportable devices such as plug and play and handheld units.
The rest are in-car units. By 2010, the share of transportable devices will
be 60 percent. In-car radios, on the other hand, will grow at a slower rate,
and their numbers will go up to only 6.9 million units from 2.5 million in
2005.

 "The signing of big deals such as Howard Stern and Major League Baseball,
has raised the stakes for XM Satellite and Sirius, even beyond the initial
capital outlays for satellites and subsidized hardware," Schatsky said.

 But such high-profile deals are not without downsides. XM, for instance,
had to suffer a wider net loss in the third quarter of 2005 due to
escalating programming costs.

http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-5967331.html


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