Analyst Predicts Sirius, XM Could Halt Some Radio Production

Both Sirius Satellite Radio and XM Satellite Radio could temporarily shut down some of its partners’ radio production to address recent FCC inquiries, according to Banc of America Securities research analyst Jonathan Jacoby.
Forbes.com is quoting Jacoby in a research note as saying the FCC probe could be “more pervasive than previously believed.”
“We believe that XM and Sirius could temporarily suspend retail shipments of certain radios, but the fix would be relatively quick and inexpensive and likely would not lead to stock-outs at retail,” states Jacoby.
We’ve reported the FCC is looking into the XM SKYFi2 and Audiovox Xpress; the commission has said the transmitter for these devices is not in compliance with the FCC operating bandwidth specifications and related emission limits. Audiovox has suspended Xpress shipments while it cooperates with the FCC review and conducts its own probe.
Jacoby believes other XM or Sirius devices could have compliance issues as well.
While the devices have been on the market for awhile, the FCC has apparently changed its testing procedures, now asking for real-world mobile testing in addition to the former lab tests, says Jacoby, who believes the problems could be solved with the addition of an inexpensive part.
He terms the interference issues as “short term” and not likely to affect the growth of the satellite radio market category.