2012 Was a Good Year for HD Radio

2012 was a very good year for HD Radio technology.

That’s according to iBiquity President/CEO Bob Struble.

Overall unit HD Radio receiver unit sales were 3.3 million as of the end of September, which coincides with the end of the fiscal year for the technology developer iBiquity Digital. That’s up 60% over the previous period, according to Struble.

For the same time period, more than 2.5 million cars with HD Radio receivers in them were sold, compared to 1.3 million for the same period a year ago, Struble said in an interview with Radio World.

At the same time, “In the background you’ve got the trend of the technology being used for more than an audio service,” said Struble, pointing to traffic devices that use HD Radio technology to deliver that data to the car.

For example, Mitsubishi recently announced that its compact crossover, the 2014 Outlander, will be its first vehicle to have real-time traffic information delivered with HD Radio technology integrated into its navigation system in the dash. That car is due out in the summer.

iBiquity says that’s the first of several announcements to come about that level of HD traffic integration in the vehicle.

(Source : Radio World, USA)