Smartphone Score: Pandora 4 Sirius XM 0
Its been 11 months since the Apple iPhone App Store opened its doors and over a billion downloads later, there is still no sign of an official Sirius XM iPhone application. I should probably mention that the guys at Sirius XM have been saying that we should expect one “soon” which has fans everywhere asking the question… what the heck is taking so long?
As if things weren’t hard enough for fans of the Satellite Radio giant Sirius XM, yesterday they were dealt another blow when free internet radio specialists Pandora came through with a new application for the recently released Palm Pre. How is it that companies like Pandora, who by the way, had the most downloaded iPhone application of the entire year, can manage to turn out new applications in a matter of days while Sirius XM fans have had to endlessly wait?
Pandora now has a dedicated “on the go” page featuring free applications for four of the top smartphone platforms including the likes of Balckberry, iPhone, Windows mobile, and now, the only days old, Palm Pre. For those of you who might not know, the Palm Pre has only been on the market for a matter of days and already Pandora is locked, loaded, and ready to go.
The fact that the Pandora iPhone application was the most downloaded application of the entire year should be sounding off alarms in the heads of the movers and shakers at Sirius XM. There have been millions of iPhones sold and billions of applications downloaded and where was the biggest market? The audio entertainment market. What more do the people at Sirius XM need to see and how long will their loyal subscribers have to wait before they realize the importance of this new delivery system, which their fans won’t stop begging for and at the same time can put their content into the ears of millions of untapped consumers?
I have never bashed SIRI, but this is testing my resolve.
Cheers,
Whynot
Charles,
THANK YOU for calling a spade a spade.
What is even worse is that they DELIBERATELY killed an app that could have helped them in the market.
If there was ever greater evidence that Mel Karmazin needs to go, I’d love to see it.
Everything you brought out CLEARLY shows that Sirius-XM management in incompetent and will bring down the company if they are allowed to continue.
This company is so frustrating, it seems they can’t do anything in a timely manner
Charles. By the end of June. Iphone App. Ipod too. Its coming its coming. I know some people have no patience anymore with this company, and I dont blame them. But they are still on schedule from the announcement made in Q4. They said by then end of Q2. Reiterated that as end of June in Q1 report. Your complaining about the past. The past is done. Yes, they should have had an app for the other OS, but it makes sense to wait. Dont you think Charles , this company has created enough confusion with the merger? They got it right this time. Release it when it can fully be utilized. One app, for the new OS. New internet channels, exclusive content just got better. They are moving in the right direction. Comparing them to Pandora isnt fair. Pandora is a music only program with no unique content.
ugh, he doesnt compare Sirius XM to Pandora as a service he compares them in their ability to churn out a new application in a timely manner. You always have to make things into something that they arent. So tiring.
So any company that puts out apps faster than Pandora is leaving Pandora in the dust. Any any company that gets one out later than SiriusXM makes leaving them in the dust then. No hes comparing them as similar services, why its on Siriusbuzz.com. Go look at the name of the website, then rethink you comment.
Its implied, and stated in the text of the article. He is comparing them to SiriusXM. Hes stated time and time again he believes they are in direct competition. Sorry, your wrong.
good comeback, relmor you are right, its implied comparison. does anyone think what legal hurdles it takes for a sxm to take all of their content and put it into an app? might have to pay cnn etc because now the deals made have change, the official sirius xm iphone app is a game changer. notice i say official, because it wont just be accessing content it will be branded sxm.
Excuses, Excuses, Excuses! Maybe SIRI XM management should give us users/stockholders an update on the progress of the I-Phone app. Is that too much to ask?
he is comparing the ability for a audio entertainment company to create an application in a timely manner. You make it sound like he is comparing the services themselves or the companys themselves which he is not.
No, they are a direct comparison because they both stream services over the internet, to which a license has already been acquired). If you have the requisite Sirius/XM internet account, they have licensed you to receive their content via the internet. An iPhone application would merely be a channel by which the already licensed service would be delivered; it would be no different than a laptop using a mobile telephone signal to access the internet. Yes, Sirius/XM is a different sort of company that offers more than merely automated streaming music. However, when looking at a particular method of delivery there are direct comparisons and those were the subject of this article. This is not comparing Sirius to the maker of Falling Balls, iBeer or some other iPhone app. It is comparing two companies that provide a similar service and that both use an identical method of delivery (the internet, NOT the iPhone per se) to provide the services. It is the method of delivery that is at point, not the two companies in their entireties. Do not obfuscate the discussion by making it broader than it should be.
Besides, it turns out there is already an app on the app store with which you can access satellite radio (I just learned of it today myself).
Really makes you wonder. Seems if they were really on top of it, their subscriber numbers would be not as reliant on auto sales as they seem to be now.
“The fact that the Pandora iPhone application was the most downloaded application of the entire year should be sounding off alarms in the heads of the movers and shakers at Sirius XM.”
He didnt mention the guitar app, or the car app that opens your door. Or the GPS app, etc… All out before SiriusXM’s app. So your case that he is using a random company isnt logical. He specifically mentions Pandora for a reason. Music program. He is saying that the competition is also up 4 to 0. Sounds like a game score. You know , two companies competing with each other. So you couldnt actually be MORE wrong.
Sirius-XM has missed a golden opportunity.
It is simply too late.
It’s typical behavior for a company that has never turned a profit but doesn’t change management.
The idea that they are taking their time to get it right is wishful thinking.
They haven’t done anything right and continue to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.
I never said he used a random company. Go back and read my comments again before I go any further. You have a track record of changing what people say around and arguing with what you want to argue with and not what the person has actually said.
Amen brutha. You can blame the FCC for the merger delay and the depressed auto market and be right… But this dragging out of the iPhone app is ALL Sirius’s fault. It is inexcusable! Shame on Mel.
BahBah Booey,do you use the service? or do you own the stock?
Curious to understand your perspective? How long a user?
Sirius subscriber since 2005.
At the time Stern was still on K-Rock and I could get him on regular radio.
I liked the commercial free music.
As a Stern fan, I was ecstatic when he came to Sirius.
A month before he started I purchased 2 additional subs.
Got out of the stock well before the merger.
The company has clearly been hamstrung by a lack of cash but that falls squarely in Mel’s lap.
He put the company out on the edge and didn’t have any contingency for tighter capital markets.
They have done NOTHING about their abysmal customer service and it makes it hard to stay a subscriber.
Right now, it’s 52-48 for me in favor of Sirius-XM but I have no faith that current management can improve anything about the company.
They are the quintessential victims of paralysis by analysis.
Time for fresh blood with a handle on the pulse.
Mel is clearly out of touch.
yep..Apple just had the big 3G event. How many people were watching worldwide on the web? 100K? 500K?? maybe more
Vendors there to show the new apps for the 3G.
Where was SiriusXM??? they did not want that type of free advertisment
The Sirius XM 3G app will come out in a couple weeks…maybe next month..or the month after..with little fanfare.
What an event to miss, should have been there even if it was not ready or did not work just for the adverstising, some of the other companies did just that.
vaporgold
hey Vapor . . good to see ya again!
Hi SRK…where is SCRF??
I have just been sitting back watching not much of anything when it comes to SiriusXM.
It is going to take profit$$$$
Hey Vapor. Sent you a Private message back a while. Good To see you as SRK said. Agree with your statement that we seem to miss opportunity after opportunity.
It’s a shame that SXM wasn’t an operating company in 1994-95. That would have really been the time for this company.
It makes you wonder–Maybe more then an app is coming thru?
Maybe Sirius is waiting because it will coincide with the release of the new iphone/update next week. How great would it be if it was pre-installed or included in iphone software update?
You must be out of your mind entirely.
I think there are legitimate reasons for the delay and some of it has to do with a comprehensive marketing message and the content for both Sirius & XM services need to be as close to mirror images as possible, except for the Best of packages. In addition, they are still ading to and improving the internet content & finally there is the June 27th deadline for the minority channels.
I say they release the product to the market closer to the end of the month, maybe even on June 29th.
It’s been this long, what is another 2 weeks.
Also something bigger must be brewing because there is no way that John Malone/Mel are incompetent, like everyone portrays. These are very smart people heading this co. and they are thinking longer term than alot of posters have the patience for.I think once this APP is released, you will see the positive news flow start to happen more frequently and pps moving up quickly to the magical $ 1 mark.
I am a SXM stockholder with about 200k+ shares. So I do care!! I am also in the software development business. When we are preparing to launch new products/versions, typical communication procedures is to keep release dates in general terms ie… end of Q2. As we approach the launch timeframe as in the case of SXM Q2 being only 3 weeks away, we would provide more specific dates.. ie ‘Coming June 17th, the highly anticipated iPhone SXM App’. All software vendors do this – Apple/MicroSoft, etc. However if there is any speculation internally that the actual dates cannot be met for whatever reason, no specific dates for the release are given. The internal procedures for communications are to keep dates general because you don’t know the specifics.
I too am hopeful that Mel provides some guidance in the actual release dates. Mainly because no communication is perceived to be negative.
My opinion is that the lack of communication on a specific release date is due primarily to legal terms not yet being agreed to btw Apple/SXM. Let’s not kid ourselves, this is a partnership btw Apple/SXM not just the release of an app by SXM. If the release of the app is delayed, it will be because of the 2 parties not coming to agreement on terms.
For those refering to Pandora… Pandora delivered a simple app for the iPhone/Pre. There’s no partnership between Apple & Pandora that I am aware of… They are simply using the iPhone/Pre as a platform.
Only time will tell….
Mel is a radio guy running an “unprofitable” content distribution technology company. He is a technology/innovation dinosaur.
How many college kids do you know with a subscription to Sirius?
I would of bought Slacker before XM.
First off… college kids don’t have $… that’s why they go for the free stuff till it’s no longer free.
The market for SXM is late 20’s, 30s and up. That’s where the money is…
Have you been out of the house lately?
Take a stroll around the closest college campus to your house and tell me how poor the students look!
Hey JS – let’s not get personal.
It is a national financial statistic that the mediam income for people in their late 20s/30s and up to be higher than those who are in their college years. Looks have nothing to do with wealth.
The proper phrase to use is “I would ‘have’ bought Slacker before XM.” .
Poor use of the basics of the English language is a pet peeve of mine.
Flame away.
I actually spent your time on this response.
You lose!!!!!!!!!!!!
The worst part is now they are attached to another dinosaur, in Liberty.
Technology is changing quicker than these guys can get out of the bed in the morning!!!!
Technology may be changing fast, but unless the role of satellites are somehow being TOTALLY surplanted by these ” new technologies”, the playing field is being thoroughly monopolized by these ” old bulls” who I think are hell-bent on walking down and taking ALL the cow’s rather than running down and getting just one……….
I wish I could believe that. But at this point the “old bulls” are moving so slowly that 400,000 cows got away last quarter.
As far as transmitters go — data stream over cell VS. satellite varies by region. In forested areas like Washington or Northern California, Sirius XM is spotty as hell. But they’re great in wide open spaces like Montana and Texas.
Once you decide these guys are arrogant dinosaurs, everything makes perfect sense. That just might be the case. They could order every DJ to start twittering tomorrow and it wouldn’t cost them a cent. But these guys seem to have an FM mentality to the bone. They’re in their own little world, and it’s shrinking day by day.
Well hopefully Pandora buys Sirius XM?
Hah, hah! If Pandora could, then I would as a feverant and now “desperate” investor agree to “Cramer’s it’s going to ten call” ( $10 ) back several years now……….. Anything less as a “common” holder can probably go by the wayside…………; )
“Old Bulls”=Malone + Kaz, et al BTW……
Charles –
Just maybe Sirius hits a grand slam with 2 outs in the ninth to tie it up at 4 & then wins in extra innings.
Mel batting with Malone on deck bases loaded….
Happened already, with the near bankruptcy…. Meant very little this far……..Slam, Bam, Thank U Mam’…….it appears !
Draland. LOL.
Charles. If this is going back to your roots reporting, nice job. Hope it’s passed along to their management in some way. They need it.
Reading comments I can hear a lot of frustration from users and concerns that SiriusXM will be left behind technologically. I wouldnt worry about it. They adapt to content delivery, and still have the content that is unique and in demand. It might take time for them to implement other technologies, but asking them to innovate these techs is not fair. They are not a tech company, at least not anymore. They are a content company, that offers sat. services as well. Their stream will be accessable online, and through wifi, smart phones, sat radios, etc.. The merger set them back 2 years. Lets not kid ourselves on that one. If they come out of this, they come out much stronger and with the ability to focus on retaining subs, not simply adding them at all costs.
You wouldn’t worry about it? From what standpoint? As a consumer I have moved elsewhere. Dont tell me as a guy who has waited for years to see this service improve to not worry about it. If you are speaking as a stockholder, yeah don’t worry about it, if you like hanging around in the .30 range.
Sirius XM is not a tech company? They put satellites in space but you want us to believe that they can not get an iPhone app to market? Jackie the Jokeman is a comedian and he managed to get his own iPhone app to market. You’re kidding yourself.
The merger did set them back, which makes this all the more important. No one is waiting for them to catch up, not their competitors and not technology so the merger may be an excuse but its irrelevant. Time is not going to stand still while this company gets its act together. Just like any other tech based company, it has to innovate and grow or die. Lately it hasnt been innovating or growing which is not a good sign for anyone.
This is the most foolish statement I have read here.
They are most definitely a tech company and EVERYONE with an interest, subscriber and shareholders alike, NEED to be worried.
Sirius-XM are also a tech company with two different SatRad delivery technologies.
Technologies that need improvement upon the current infrastructure.
They are also a company that can’t get out of their own way.
Speaking strictly from a management perspective, no smartphone app after all this time should be considered a terminating offense.
It makes one wonder if Mel is deliberately taking the company down.
So you consider DirectTV a tech company too, even though wall street doesnt? Sorry, but they are NOT tech company. You can call them one whenever you want. Companies who use tech are not necessarily tech companies. Coke uses trucks to deliver their products, but they are not a trucking company. SiriusXM is a media content company first now. They are in the media/entertainment industry. Get a clue. A tech company would be responsible for inventing new ways to distribute their medium. Since Al Gore already invented the internet, and wifi has been out a while now, Im not really sure what you want them to invent. They are putting up better and better satellites, if that makes you happy. The iphone app is taking advantage of technology, as a good media company does. If thats the most foolish statement you ever read, you need to read more.
Lets say for a second that they aren’t a tech company and don’t have an IT department. Are you suggesting that Jackie the Jokeman has resources available to him that Sirius XM does not? How are all these other companies creating applications when they aren’t tech companies? Again, Jackie the Jokeman has an app and he is NOT a tech company.
Believe what you want.
The idea that Sirius-XM is not a tech company is nonsense on its face.
If they were a content company they would ALREADY have the distribution medium setup across all the available platforms.
While they are certainly providing content, to claim they aren’t a tech company is just plain dumb.
iPhone App?
What iPhone app?
They haven’t shown ANYONE they have an app that actually works.
At least Palm had working demo products to show at CES.
Where was Sirius-XM?
So I walk into Best Buy yesterday to buy a car/sat radio for a family member as a gift. Now you walk over to the auto dept and go through what it takes to get your sat radio installed, functional and with state of the art high tech new age technology. And get back to me. Cause sirius/xm is not only “left behind”. They aren’t even in the game……………………
lol SCRF,,Good to see Friggin and you venting again..
I agree, You can have all the “Great Content” you want, but if no one is buying and moving on to other platforms for music where does that leave SiriusXM?
That is why there is so much mistrust between stockholders and SiriusXM management. Stockholders can’t believe they can keep making these huge mistakes, over and over
vaporgold
The merger delay was the FCC’s fault.
The Car industry’s meltdown was out of Sirius’s control.
But this? This unforgivable delay of the iphone app is all Sirius. I find it both FRUSTRATING and SUSPICIOUS that Sirius does not have one available yet. The software developers have had the software from Apple for almost a year now. The fact that Sirius did not release one by the WWDC is insane.
They are moving in SLOW MOTION when they should be kicking it into overdrive. As an investor it drives me CRAZY.
We all know how long the merger took. Longest in history. And how the delay kept the company in Limbo for 2 years. We all heard Mel say during that time how his hands were tied. We forgave him.
He signed that “ugly” deal to close the merger. We forgave him.
We stuck with him thru the whole BK scare and 40% Liberty stake.
We FORGAVE him.
But COME ON MEL!!!! All we heard him say in the last two CCs was how shareholder value was so important. And YET….he seems to be moving in slow motion while the very companies he said he competed with during the merger fiasco are now passing Sirius by.
Pandora and Slacker are kicking Sirius’s ass and management seems to be bending over asking for more. It is so friggin F’d up.
Sirius says it doesn’t have the money to advertise now. A majority of people in this country has NO IDEA sat radio even exists. There is no Hip or Cool vibe being marketed to the youth who are downloading Pandora and Slacker in the millions.
I mean WTF is going on here????
We are not just arm chair quarter back shareholders here. This is COMMON SENSE.
I have seen NO progress in marketing at all.
Sirius is blowing it. It is so absurd that it’s no wonder why some people begin to think up all sorts of conspiracy theories. It just doesn’t make sense. Is this a company that WANTS to fail???
“They aren’t even in the game…..”
So it seems—sadly.
Leave the iphone app alone for a second, because let’s face it, it would need a free Howard Stern stream to have any impact at this point.
Let’s look at the existing web stream, the one that justifies the $36.00/year rate hike. The SXM online pop-up player has a lousy interface, no search and no bells or whistles—no artwork, no extra meta information, no community, no links. Sound quality on the pay streams is great, but it’s prone to dropping the stream and crashing. The entire experience feels clunky and extremely dated. If there was any awareness or interest of behaving like a modern media company, the SXM online player would be updated with a whizzbang 2.0 model. Instead, even myspace puts SXM to shame.
They found the money for Mad Dog, so it’s not a finance issue.
The extremely sad thing is that these guys seem to be stuck in a 1980s FM mentality, but they aren’t even players in the music world. As a rock fan, I couldn’t help notice that Chickenfoot and Black Sabbath both had top ten albums recently but SXM didn’t play their music.
Down the tubes? Or ace up the sleeve. I guess waiting a few more weeks to know for sure won’t kill me.
Mel’s employment contract renewel date is coming up I think in Q3. He’ll be replaced by one of Malone’s goons. Wouldn’t it be cool to get not only SXM on the iPhone but how about DTV?
Hey, I think it would be cool if management actually talked to the outside world more than once every three months………..maybe we could start there.
I think it’s utterly outrageous that this app has not arrived yet. Hey, if they wanted to, they literally could have bought out nicemac and used their app. The ONLY explanation I can find for this ridiculous laziness is that they are waiting for OS 3.0 because of the ability to charge subscription fees from within the app. Even then, they still could have released the application by now, as most apps have already been updated for 3.0 compatibility and released. They are starting to charge $3.00 a month extra for internet useage, yet have not given an adequate means of allowing customers to access their accounts on anything besides a stationary computer, and even then through an antiquated media player. Give me a break Sirius. Give me my iPhone app already, or give me a refund.