David wrote:
On 1 Feb 2006 07:20:01 -0800, "John S." wrote:


David wrote:
http://www.radioandrecords.com/Newsr...nacoustics.asp

Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2006
Boston Acoustics Lowers Price Of HD Radio Model

The high cost of an HD Radio has been a thorn in the side of those
in the industry that want HD2 multicast offerings as an available
option for the FM radio listener. Boston Acoustics has now decided to
help out a bit by lowering the manufacturer's suggested retail price
on its Recepter Radio HD from $499 to $299, effective today.

"We're very excited about the level of interest our Recepter Radio HD
has had from both consumers and the media," Boston Acoustics VP/Sales
Phil Cohn said. "We were the first to offer a table radio featuring
digital HD Radio technology and we are the first to be able to make
this technology accessible to a broader audience of radio listeners."
Cohn added that his company continues to work closely with the
broadcasting industry on the rollout of additional HD Radio-capable
receivers.

More than 3,000 stations are in the process of upgrading to HD Radio
broadcasting, with more than 700 on the air and several hundred also
launching new multicast channels this spring.

Read just a bit into that announcement and it says people are not
lining up to buy an expensive recepter when the basic recepter works
just fine. I suspect that HD radio has a part to play in the way in
which radio broadcasts will be delivered to listeners in the future.
But as with other technologies the price will have to come down
considerably before great numbers of consumers will buy in.

It just came down $200 (40%). The regular Recepter doesn't pick up
all the channels the digital model gets, and is monaural.

Yes, but most buyers of high-end tabletop radios apparently view the
regular model as being sufficient for their needs - or said another way
they hear more than enough on the standard broadcast signals. The
added bells and whistles of the HD radio were apparently not worth 3x
the price to most consumers. At the new price BA may attract some
additional listeners.

We've seen it happen with each new technology, whether it is FM radio,
vhs tapes, CD, DVD, memory based storage, plasma screens or lcd
screens. The early adopters pave the way for the rest of us by
purchasing enough of the new technology at very high prices to
encourage manufacturers to find more efficient ways of manufacturing
the item and produce greater numbers that take advantage of economies
of scale. That way the majority can just sit back and wait for the
inevitable cheaper prices.