I recently came across a billboard that was advertising “Sirius XM Satellite Radio Now on iPhone” . It got me thinking…..
In my opinion, satellite radio is a dying industry. Why would people want to pay $10 a month to listen to good music when they can just do it through the plethora of internet apps like Pandora / Last.fm / etc. Those apps are already available for mobile devices (iphone, blackberry, etc). .Don’t get me wrong…I still love listening to Sirius XM. But I just hear it through my DirecTv subscription. I wouldn’t pay an extra $10+ a month for it. I was even an early investor in XM…but have long cashed out. I’m glad I did now considering that it’s only around $0.40 per share
Most of XM and Sirius’s business relied on the auto industry. The recession drastically lowered car sales. But I think the main reason for the slump is the proliferation of Internet radio and there’s already technology out that allows internet access through your ‘radio’ dashboard. As that technology gets more common, will people continue to pay $10 for something that they can get for free? One can argue that internet radio is actually an upgrade…programs like pandora actually customize the music based on your preferences. Can satellite radio do that?
Goodbye satellite radio. Internet radio is here to stay.
Edit: Seems the sirius iphone app requires a subscription of $13. An even *better* deal
http://www.theiphoneblog.com/2009/05/28/iphone-sirius-xm-finally-appearance/