Pure hedges bets putting DAB and wi-fi together

The Radio Magazine: Digital radio manufacturer Pure is preparing to unveil a new range of receivers for the Christmas sales period – including a DAB set featuring built-in wi-fi internet access.

Announcing its end-of-year results, parent company Imagination Technologies said a “strong pipeline” of new products would be unveiled in the coming months, and retailers had already committed to stocking the new receivers in the run-up to Christmas.

It said it remained confident that digital radio sales would continue to grow. Revenue at Pure Digital rose 15 per cent year-on-year to £30.1m in the 13 months to the end of March.

Among the new products to be announced in the coming months will be a wi-fi enabled radio, allowing listeners to tune in to hundreds of stations streaming over the internet as well as regular DAB stations. The product has been described by Pure as “a key driver in the next generation of radio”.

The manufacturer is also understood to be close to launching a receiver that incorporates interactive and on-demand services – including podcasting, listen again features and music downloads.

“The digital radio market is now developing significantly,” the company said. “The penetration of internet connectivity and wi-fi is enabling new opportunities.”

Pure said its Chronos DAB radio, which comes with a built-in iPod docking station, had been “a big success” and was to set to become the best-selling iPod docking radio on the market.

The Imagination Technologies chief executive, Hossein Yassale, added: “While the global economic slowdown remains a concern, we remain confident of continuing to make good progress in the current financial year.”

Although Christmas is traditionally the busiest time of the year for digital radio sales, manufacturers and retailers said there had been evidence this year of a slowing-down in the first few months of the new year, a problem which could be exacerbated if the economic picture worsens.