Sirius XM Radio has introduced a dock that essentially turns iPhones and iPods into satellite radios, showing the satcaster is willing to work with the competition and recognizing the consumer trend of wanting to have all entertainment on one device.
XM SkyDock plugs into a car’s cigarette lighter or the Aux-in jack and plays through the user’s existing in-dash stereo system. It has a built-in XM tuner controlled by a free App that users download from the App Store.
Some 12 million consumers have iPhones and another 16 million have iPod Touches, according to Majestic Research. That taps into a growing market as satellite radio’s subscriber base is not growing at the pace it had been, due to lower new car sales. At the end of June, Sirius XM reported 18.4 million subscribers, down from 19 million at the end of 2009.
Bob Law, group vice president and general manager of Sirius XM’s Aftermarket Division, stated, “XM SkyDock makes their favorite programming from XM and ‘The Best of Sirius’ available to iPod touch and iPhone users anywhere they drive.”
XM SkyDock will be available in stores this fall and at www.shop.xmradio.com with a list price of just under $120. The XM SkyDock App will be available at the same time.
This Federal Communications Commission has given preliminary approval of the dock, which is still being evaluated by the agency.
