Smartphone Apps Score: Pandora 4, Sirius XM 0

Its been 11 months since the Apple (AAPL) iPhone App Store opened its doors and over a billion downloads later, there is still no sign of an official Sirius XM iPhone application. I should probably mention that the guys at Sirius XM (SIRI) have been saying that we should expect one “soon” which has fans everywhere asking the question… what the heck is taking so long?

As if things weren’t hard enough for fans of the Satellite Radio giant Sirius XM, they were dealt another blow when free internet radio specialists Pandora came through with a new application for the recently released Palm Pre. How is it that companies like Pandora, who by the way, had the most downloaded iPhone application of the entire year, can manage to turn out new applications in a matter of days while Sirius XM fans have had to endlessly wait?

Pandora now has a dedicated “on the go” page featuring free applications for four of the top smartphone platforms including the likes of Blackberry, iPhone, Windows mobile, and now, the only days old, Palm (PALM) Pre. For those of you who might not know, the Palm Pre has only been on the market for a matter of days and already Pandora is locked, loaded, and ready to go.

The fact that the Pandora iPhone application was the most downloaded application of the entire year should be sounding off alarms in the heads of the movers and shakers at Sirius XM. There have been millions of iPhones sold and billions of applications downloaded and where was the biggest market? The audio entertainment market. What more do the people at Sirius XM need to see and how long will their loyal subscribers have to wait before they realize the importance of this new delivery system, which their fans won’t stop begging for and at the same time can put their content into the ears of millions of untapped consumers?

Disclosure: Long SIRI

Comments

[Thomass:]

So very,very true. I agree totaly 100 %, thank-you for venting my frustrations.

Jun 12 05:11 AM

[logicalthought:]

Pandora is so damn good (and will soon be so damn popular) that I doubt that the music companies will continue to provide them with content at prices cheap enough for the service to stay free.

Jun 12 07:11 AM

[Darla:]

Pandora is free. It's a lot less complicated.

Sirius is probably waiting for OS 3.0 to be released so they can charge subscription fees within the app.

Jun 12 08:34 AM

[RCL:]

Mel is an old radio guy...and if he does'nt get his head out of his fat ass and get moving SIRI will become old radio.

Ric

Jun 12 09:36 AM

[hwyflier:]

I've just about given up, on both the stock and the app. In 2 weeks if things don't get better I think it's finally time to bail and go with another radio app. What are they waiting for. There has to be some other agenda here. The public, once switched over is not very forgiving and very hard to coax back.

Jun 12 11:19 AM

[Flipper23:]

It is somewhat frustrating waiting around for SIRI to make these moves ! Seems to take them forever to get anything done..procrastinate..p... !

Jun 12 11:26 AM

[User 417377:]

Pandora is probably run and managed by a younger generation of people, where Sirius is probably all old white men - who don't seem to realize that us young kids (I'm 25 by the way) are SOOO eager to iPhone apps for EVERY single one of the online services we use.

Jun 12 12:01 PM

[2bitRick:]

Tyler
Do you really believe in the Tooth Fairy?
This is just one more in your on going series of articles (wishing) about the SIRI phantom application.
"Long SIRI" you are and just maybe the Tooth Fairy will leave something under your pillow.

Get over it!

Jun 12 01:06 PM

[Hawk180:]

I keep seeing everyone fretting over the radio apps, sports, music, talk, news....But that's not everything SIRIUS offers. I have repeatedly blogged about their weather downlinks for everyone from farmers to corperate aircraft pilots. Most people don't understand it and therefore don't see the potential. If you guys would do a little research an see what the service is all about, you wouls see that there are more apps being bought every day for this service. I realize that the numbers are with the radio apps, but with the pricing of the WXworks apps and the gaining popularity amoung aviatior, sailors, truckers, railroads and many others, the income is growing for this company. I also am aware that the management consistantly makes questionable decisions, but that will end soon enough. Malone will not continue to allow it to deteriorate the companies worth. Nor would I if I had $530m invested. I'm holding long term and collecting as much as I can afford.

Jun 12 03:51 PM

[Content seeker:]

Mel ... hasn't done swat with this company . He needs to wake up and get this company jump started. What in hell is he waiting for? Apple get off yours as well and buy this company. My god .. I have given up on the likes of GM ... Citrgroup ... Microsoft .... and others who need to have there decision makers go back to school and take a 101 management course. I see it in my own company as well and it is sickening to see the decisions that are made are this level.

Jun 12 11:03 PM

[Jerrold Wil...:]

I noticed some very important things from the apple iphone app screen shot shown from the last meeting. What stuck out to me was that the iphone app and other smart phone apps were on target for the second quarter. This would indicate that a blackberry and windows mobile app is soon to be launched also. They already had an app for blackberry but it was a ill conceived app. You paid $7.99 for 20 sirius xm stations. I love my xm, but that was a rip off when I already had a subscription. When the service is available to all smartphones, I would imagine that in a few years more people will listen to sirius xm throug phones than sirius xm radios. The radios will be in most cars in a few years and then everyone has a phone these days. So Sirius XM will be availalbe to most people everywere and justify the cost to them. They have in car, work, gym, house, etc...They would not have to buy additional equipment which I believe is the main hurdle. They already have their cell phones. Pandora will be shut down soon, its just a matter of time. The music industry cant let people have free music. Pandora may be a great service, but the music industry isnt a charity orginaization giving a way "great service" for free! Sirius will be the new radio for the new generation! They need to drop the word "satelite" as that will be just one way to get the signal. It should be just Sirius XM Radio, or Sirius XM entertainement,

Jun 14 09:01 AM