By Brandon Matthews
With release dates being offered that range from October 11 through Oct 18 for the XM SkyDock, it seems one electronics retailer was given a head start on sales whether by accident or intent. A report came in to the Satwaves Forum by means of a mobile post by Cos1000 who reported that he was in his local Best Buy (BBY) and that the store had 4 XM SkyDock Radios on the shelf.
I grabbed my keys and immediately ran to my local Best Buy and confirmed that not only did they have the XM SkyDock, but also the new XM Onyx and Sirius Stratus 6 radios as well. I snapped off a few photos with my Google (GOOG) G1 mobile phone, and proceeded to the checkout to verify that the radios were in fact on sale. I have heard of cases in which items are put out early, but upon checkout it is revealed that the item is not currently available. That was not to be the case here, as the $119.00 SkyDock rang up without issue.
This bodes well for Sirius XM Radio (SIRI) investors and Satellite Radio fans alike, as the past is filled with stories of anticipated product releases that never developed prior to the close of the holiday shopping season. On-line retailers will be breathing a sigh of relief in the knowledge that product will be available to meet demand. Clearly, Sirius XM has positioned itself to make the most of what promises to be a challenging holiday season from an economic standpoint, by getting these new offerings to market well before Black Friday.
The only criticism I would have to offer is that the radios seem to have been put up on the shelves in a location in the rear of store that makes finding them difficult, and the Best Buy employee I spoke with asked me; “What is that, anyway?” when referring to the Skydock. Clearly, no real marketing effort has begun and the chances are high that these radios only arrived at the store today, as Satwaves spotters are always on the lookout for cases such as this. A call to a contact at Radio Shack (RSH) revealed a release date of October 19 for that chain also, which is in-line with information provided to us by The Satellite Radio Superstore earlier in the week. Keep in mind for those looking to buy early, according to the XM website, the Apple (AAPL) app that makes the Skydock work with the iPhone and iPod touch will not be available until October 11.
More Exclusive Photos Below!
Position: Long SIRI
hey brandon great work!…. do you need a XM Skydock App for the Iphone? if so i wonder when it will hit itunes.
it could get interesting at this point if we could hit some download records at the app store
Keep it up!!!
I am baffled as to how or why sirius/xm would release the product with absolutely no concrete information to the public. There are people anticipating the product, following the stock and company daily, and absolutely unaware the product is somewhere on the shelf ready to be sold. Was it by grand design to release the Skydock on or about the same time the bonus stock options would vest, triggering negative press and a possible stock drop? Doesn’t the correlation mean anything the execs? I just don’t get it.
brandon,
what happened to all the original responsive posts?
SkyDock app not available until Sunday (10/11), so it’s useless until then…
Who let the dogs out!!!!
Yes…… !!!
The Skydock needs to be put in with the Ipod accessories! That would make more sense and help people undestand what it is better. Are they in the car audio section now?
I too picked on up at BestBuy… They had it behind the glass and unlocked it for me. I then went to checkout and it rang up as $9,999.00 plus 6% PA sales tax for $10,598.94… When the manager came over she was shocked and then realized that they were out for display only and not to be sold until 10/11. They had plenty and are holding it for me until then. Hopefully I can get it for $99.99…..
Ok, before we get too excited. I went to Best Buy today and saw the Sky Dock. Just as I thought however, it was in the back of the store on a bottom shelf in the car audio section, under the XMP3 and other poor selling satelite devices. Hmm…what are the chances of a ipod touch or iphone user looking in the SIRIUS/XM portable/dock and play section? If they don’t see it there…Where will they hear about it? on tv? no…on Radio…no…I hope some advertising is coming for this..or the devices will sit on the shelves….I know this is before the official launch…so hopefully this will change…
Well at least they had it Jerrold I just came from my local Best Buy and of coarse the sales rep. had no idea what the XM SkyDock was and did not have it, he continued to call his manager who said that they will not have it for one month.
portable colorful displays are needed!
This is obviously a mis-handling of the launch of the new products. The Sky dock, onyx and STRATUS 6 were available at the Best Buy in Yonkers, NY, yet even on xmradio.com, the products arent mentioned yet. I’m pretty sure the app for the skydock hasn’t been put on itunes as well. This is what I was worried about….A potential “game changer” just being bungled like management has no clue about how to market the service. I could be “jumping the gun” because the SKYDOCK wasn’t suppose to be “officially” available until Monday at retail stores. However, all the talk about Hiigh demand for pre-orders and people can’t wait to get their hands on this….Do we see how silly that was? Most people don’t even know the thing exists, much less are anxiously waiting for it. Geez…I went to Best buy saw the product…..then went over to the employee in the ipod section and asked him where it was…he never heard of it….I went to the car audio dept……He jut pointed me to the satelite section..and said…if we have it..it will be somewhere over there……..I went about 7:00 pm est to allow for a full day of it being available With no marketing,,,this will change the game as much as the Stilletto 2 and XMP3 did for satelite…..
Just checked itunes…..SIRIUS XM SKYDOCK app is available now…
I called a Best Buy store in Aurora, CO & they said they don’t have the product, never heard of it, & have no idea if & when there going to get it.
I went down to Best Buy, didn’t see the Skydock and asked the clerk when it would arrive. He fiddled around on the computer to find out when they’d be getting it while I browsed around their available selections. He called me over when he found the answer and read the first lines from Brandon’s article on this page. SatWaves Rules !