DAB Heading Toward ‘Mass-Market Status,’ Advocates in U.K. Say

Three million DAB digital radios have been sold in the United Kingdom, says a group that pushes the technology.
The Digital Radio Development Bureau’s chief executive said, “It took five years for DAB set sales to reach the first million; it took just nine months to reach the second million, and five months to top 3 million.” The group thinks the number could hit 4.7 million by year-end, citing interest in the FIFA World Cup as a driving cause.
The group says more than 11% of the population lives in a DAB household and that 14% of radios sold are DAB. “We are starting to see DAB digital radio sales overtake analog in some categories, particularly the portable/kitchen radio market.”
The first DAB-enabled mobile phones will appear this summer.