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HD receiver sales figures

D

dumber than a box of hair

Apparently someone has actually been able to hear Bob Struble cite some "real" sales figures (although, of course, we have no idea what the basis is for these figures and whether or not they include returns), at the Virtual Events conference, quoted in the January 1st Radio World:

2006: 28,000
2007: 140,000
2008: 366,000
2009 (through early December): 734,000

He claims 1.3 million sold to date.
 
It would be an interesting study, if one could be done, to determine how many HD Radios are actually being used - you know, as in listening on a more-or-less regular basis, to HD programming.

As has been aptly noted here, many "owners" of HD Radios may be dimly aware - if at all - that they are listening to HD or whether the receiver is in analog or digital mode. For example: in the BMW owners thread linked on this board it was clear that some posters weren't clear about how to use the radios. Apparently the digital function has to be manually enabled in sophisticated car audio systems.

In any event: 1.3 million sales does not take into account the returns, and we know anecdotally that HD Radios - certainly the earlier versions - had a horrifically high rate of return at retailers.

HD has been around for about 7 years now. Even if every single one of 1.3 million radios were in daily use it would be a dismal showing for such a massively-hyped system.
 
Not to quibble, but pro-HD types here and elsewhere are sticklers for accuracy. So I'll join in:

Adding the annual sales figures provided by none other than The Stroob and iBiquity, the total appears to be 1,268,000. That's short of 1.3 million by 32,000 units.

In other words, the rounding error amounts to amounts to 114% of the total claimed 2006 sales.

But, hey - who's keeping score, anyway? We're in HD World here. ::)
 
Savage said:
Not to quibble, but pro-HD types here and elsewhere are sticklers for accuracy. So I'll join in:

Adding the annual sales figures provided by none other than The Stroob and iBiquity, the total appears to be 1,268,000. That's short of 1.3 million by 32,000 units.

In other words, the rounding error amounts to amounts to 114% of the total claimed 2006 sales.

But, hey - who's keeping score, anyway? We're in HD World here. ::)
Click to expand...
I know of at least 3 people who have bought certain HD models that decode C-quam AM stereo and for that reason alone; not for the IBOC. I understand that WLS does IBOC by day and C-qam at night and then there still are a few (very few) stations that broadcast c-quam 24/7.

drt
st. pete,fl
 
I've purchased four of them for their superb analog capabilities. The HD part is a non-starter, at least around here.
 
All of us "internationally" who bought the sony XDR-F1HD did so for its outstanding analogue performance & not is HD Radio function.

The XDR is a hit with FM DXers worldwide!

dxer2_2000
 
dxer2_2000 said:
All of us "internationally" who bought the sony XDR-F1HD did so for its outstanding analogue performance & not is HD Radio function.

The XDR is a hit with FM DXers worldwide!

dxer2_2000
Click to expand...

I bought the XDR for that analog performance on both AM and FM more than for the HD.
 
I think there is a simple modification to do that, wgli. You might want to PM Play Freebird and ask him for details. Or maybe next time Freebird posts here he can put up a link.
 
Hate to be the voice in the wilderness amongst the HD bashers but I have two of the 1.3 million. My radio in the car has three of the presets to HD-2 stations (mostly because of my choices in music). The remaining three are HD. My home setup is similar because the HD allows me to listen next to the computer (I can't waste the bandwidth on streaming) without the noise (especially AM news on the HD-2). So I don't have a real issue with HD. Sorry about that.
 
I have two HD radios: a 2 year old Inspiron AM/FM/CD model and the new $50 portable. I bought the former because we needed a little bookshelf system for our bedroom and I thought I'd give the HD a try. Big disappointment. That radio is so bad that it literally turns itself on and off and not only do we not use it, but we had to unplug it as well. It's reception capabilities are SO bad that it only decodes one set of HD signals from a station who's stick is 3 miles from us and which has a Spanish AC format. And, despite the overwhelmingly strong AM signals that wash over our location from WSCR and WBBM (the sidebands of which screw up my other radios), not one AM station decodes HD on this POS - and that's with the factory-supplied AM antenna attached.

As for the new portable, it's a lot better than the tabletop unit. If I'm sitting still, I can get most Chicago market HDs with little difficulty. Of course, it's no good if you wish to walk around the house with it because they'll drop out to silence within one or two steps - following which you need to tune back to the analog signal and allow the HD to kick back in again. As a result, I use it only occasionally - most often when I travel - just to check out the offerings in HD. My use of that radio is purely as a radio geek interested in who's doing what and that is just as non-standard and atypical as my habit of listening to skywave AM signals at night. In fact probably more so.

So, in other words, you can probably write off two of those 1.3 million radios because they belong to me! ;D
 
Savage said:
I think there is a simple modification to do that, wgli. You might want to PM Play Freebird and ask him for details. Or maybe next time Freebird posts here he can put up a link.
Click to expand...

You'll need to cut a trace on the PC board and add a switch. The mod is near the bottom of this page under Forcing Analog Reception.

http://www.ham-radio.com/k6sti/xdr-f1hd.htm

Later this year, BW is slated to release two "pro" versions of this tuner with an IP/Ethernet port and much more flexibility, but of course they will be much more expensive. See:

http://www.rwonline.com/article/85816

http://www.profmbroadcast.nl/bw-rbrx1-dsp-based-analogue-rebroadcast-receiver.html

http://boards.radio-info.com/smf/index.php?topic=160063.msg1363747
 
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