9.14.2007
Ibiquity President/CEO Robert Struble predicts HD Radio products will retail in the $149 to $179 range this holiday season compared to around $299 at the same time last year.
At the same time, the technology developer is working to reduce its receiver chip size and bring the power consumption level down in order to get HD-R into other, portable devices. Ibiquity hopes to have that chip ready early next year.
Executives spoke to reporters invited to view its new Columbia, Md., headquarters this week.
Asked by Radio World about efforts to get HD-R into mainstream cars, Struble said “soon,” in six, 12 to 18 months. The company is talking to automakers every day, he said, and among other things, “They’re telling us when it gets to the right price they’ll do it.”
One of the biggest hurdles the company is facing is mass market adoption of the technology. While early adopters jump on new technologies and raise the public’s awareness of them, trickling down to the masses is slower.
More next week in “The Leslie Report.”
(Source: RWOnline)