Digital radio set sales in the UK jumped to 300,000 during 2003, with a surge coming in the run up to Christmas, according to the latest figures from the Digital Radio Development Bureau (DRDB).
DAB receiver sales hit 133,000 in December alone, with portable kitchen radios proving the most popular model. Electrical retailer Dixons claims that DAB receivers outsold analogue sets for the first time, whilst Comet said that digital equipment accounted for almost 80% of radio sales by value.
By the close of 2003, there were 435,000 homes with DAB equipment, an increase of 222% over last year. The DRDB says that awareness of the platform also increased, by around a third in the last three months of the year to more than 25 million people. This was largely due to an ongoing strategic marketing campaign from the BBC, which has been keen to promote a recently launched raft of digital stations.
The growth in sales and awareness comes as manufacturers have doubled the number of different products available to consumers. More than 30 new products were launched last year and prices dropped to a low of around £65.
The cost of digital radio receivers looks set to drop further during the coming months with a number of leading consumer technology manufacturers from Japan, Europe and Korea planning to enter the market. The DRDB predicts that by December 2004 there will be more than a million digital radios in UK homes.
Patrick Yau, analyst at Bridgewell Securities, said: “Attractively priced consumer products are now gaining traction, with new features and functions set to reach the market by the end of the year, further stimulating consumer interest.”
The news will provide a welcome boost to the radio industry, which is calling on the Government to announce a definitive switch-off date for the analogue signal. Earlier this year, GWR Group chairman Ralph Bernard said he had written to culture secretary Tessa Jowell and Ofcom chief executive Stephen Carter to demand a target date that would enable the entire country to be converted to digital.
