U.K. retailer Dixons is tuning out analog radio sales. Given boo...
U.K. retailer Dixons is tuning out analog radio sales. Given booming DAB digital radio sales there, the CE chain will pull the plug on analog sales this year -- the 100th anniversary of the first radio broadcast with audio.…
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“The decision follows substantial growth in the sale of digital radios, and expansion in the number and range of digital transmitters. Digital radios outsell analog 30 to one at Dixons, the retailer said. DAB’s growth has been driven by improved and expanded transmissions as well as greater selection and availability of radios, including new portables, Dixons said. It offers digital radios for as little as Pounds 30 ($56). The first DAB receivers cost about Pounds 2,000 a decade ago. DAB radios offer significant advantages over their analog predecessors, including crisper sound, text-based services, pause and rewind functions on some models and a host of content not available to AM or FM listeners, the retailer said. “The snap, crackle and pop of the traditional wireless is rapidly being replaced with the crystal-clear sound of digital audio broadcasting,” said Nick Wilkinson, group managing dir. for Dixons. Through March, 3 million DAB radios were sold in the U.K. It took 5 years to sell the first million, 9 months for the 2nd million and 5 months for the 3rd. Other products on Dixons’ “endangered species” list include the personal CD player and the boom box, “reflecting the changes that the MP3 player and the iPod are making on the portable audio market,” the retailer said.