| While the concept for satellite radio began development in the early 1990s, consumers were not introduced to the technology until 2001. Since that time, satellite radio has grown as a result of the efforts of two firms-XM Satellite Radio and Sirius Satellite Radio. Both firms were scheduled to launch in Fall 2001, but Sirius was delayed for eight months due to chipset conflicts. Total industry subscription sales reached $91 million in 2003, and are expected to reach $227 million in 2004 and $3.1 billion by 2009, according to Mintel estimates.
XM announced in the second quarter of 2004 that it had amassed 2.1 million net subscribers. While Sirius had not released 2004 second quarter data during the review period, first quarter net additions for the company in 2004 totaled 91,000 subscribers. While Sirius has gained a significant stake in the market, XM remains the strongest player in the market, adding 320,000 in the same time period. In late July of 2004, XM and Sirius reported approximately 2.1 million and 500,000 subscribers respectively, bringing the total market to 2.6 million subscribers. Market shares in the satellite radio market frequently fluctuate from quarter to quarter.
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