Emma Barnett, Media Week, 28 April 2008, 5:50pm

Digital radio sales near 7m mark

LONDON - Nearly half a million DAB digital radios were sold in the first quarter of 2008 - up by 28% year-on-year, according to the Digital Radio Development Bureau.

Citing figures from research outfit GfK, the DRDB said cumulative sales of DAB radio sets stood at 6.94 million at the end of March.

The total number of DAB sets sold during the first three months of the year was 489,000 - 7% above the DRDB's forecast for the period.

The 28% growth year-on-year is an improvement on the annual volume growth rate in 2007, which was 16%. In total, DAB now accounts for 20% of all radio sales by volume, and 26% of all sales by value.

The value of sales of digital sets also continues to grow, up 10% year-on-year and now annually worth £172 million.

The in-car market has also demonstrated signs of growth since the recent release of a plug-and-go in-car adapter from radio set manufacturer Pure Digital. DAB after-fit sales have grown by 14% year-on-year.