Thursday, December 07, 2006

UBS & CSFB Conference Comments

Both XMSR and SIRI presented at the UBS and CSFB conferences. In essence, neither company denied the possibility of a merger. Although the technologies are different, their non-music content offerings have very little overlap. The FCC is bound to notice that competition is not limited to terrestrial radio...as iPods invade the dashboard, HD radio ups the ante, and as Ford and GM explore their options for consolidation, merger prospects become enhanced.

I am disappointed that XM still feels the need introduce negative comparisons with Sirius. XM played up their reduced reliance on retail, their lower SAC, and and methodology for counting subscribers. Sirius restrains itself from commenting on the accounting that creates this lower SAC, and weakness in the OEM market.

I believe that competition is healthy, but that in this case, it should be limited to the realm of consumers, not to analyst conferences. As I have said in the past, in a sector with just 2 competitors, it's more mature to keep those negative comments to oneself.
posted by ssg5