XM/Sirius merger: Should I hold off on buying new equipment?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve been an XM subscriber for about a year now, I’m very happy with their programming/product, and intend to continue to subscribe indefinitely. I’m not sure how the upcoming (proposed?) merger with Sirius will affect me personally, but as long as it doesn’t reduce the product I’m currently receiving I’m indifferent. Any added channels would be a bonus to me as far as I’m concerned, and I’m a fan of XM just as it is.

I’m also in the market for a new car radio. My current setup just has one of the portable XM receivers hooked up to my stock tape player, and I’m thinking of getting an actual car CD player with built in sattellite to replace it. Should I hold off on buying the new deck until the merger is finalized? Is there any chance this merger will make any existing equipment obsolete, or create new equipment which would be more desireable? Will I be kicking myself in a few months if I buy something now?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

2

I’ll be watching this thread with interest.

3

My guess is that it’s going to be some time before you see any new gear available. Designing of this stuff takes time, and can be tricky. Plus, when it get’s finished, you have to run it past the FCC and get them to approve it (which can take six months). At present, it’s not even certain that the FCC will let the two companies merge, or what form the new company will take once the merger is complete.

Both XM and Sirius will have to support their existing gear for some time to come (too many people have the units as factory installs in their cars). At some point, they’ll come out with a combo unit, at which point, the old style units will plunge in price.

If it were me, I’d buy a new car stereo with an “aux” input, so I could plug in either the XM unit or an MP3 player as the mood struck me.