Audiovox To Distribute Sirius Radios
By Amy Gilroy -- TWICE, 12/30/2008
Hauppague, N.Y. —Audiovox Corp., the key distributor of XM Satellite Radio products, is poised to also become the principal distributor for Sirius-branded products, replacing Directed Electronics.
Audiovox announced today it reached an agreement with Sirius XM to become the main North American supplier of Sirius to major retailers. The agreement is subject to establishing the terms under which Audiovox will provide warehousing, distribution, logistics and related services for Sirius XM with respect to both Sirius and XM products.
In November, Directed Electronics announced it would cease acting as a Sirius distributor as of Jan. 31, 2009 due in part to declining sales of Sirius products. Revenues from Sirius products had declined steadily for Directed since 2006 from $220 million to $118 million in 2007 and were expected to fall to between $70 to $90 million in 2008, marking a further reduction of 25 to 40 percent, said Jim Minarik, president and CEO of Directed Electronics’ parent company, DEI Holdings.
Audiovox and Directed formerly competed in satellite radio as Audiovox has been the master distributor for XM since 2005.
Patrick Lavelle, president and CEO of Audiovox said the company’s satellite radio sales should more than double next year under the new agreement. "This is yet another major milestone for our company as it further strengthens our leading position in the satellite radio category. Despite the current economic climate, satellite radio is still growing and we believe it will continue to be a prominent form of consumer entertainment,” he said.
More details are expected to be announced by Audiovox on Jan. 12, when it releases its fiscal third-quarter earnings for the period ending Nov. 30, said a spokesman.
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