The FCC gave XM new approval for 3 plug & play receiver models af...

to resume production. The 3, among XM’s “primary” receivers in the retail aftermarket, are expected to be available for the holiday selling season, XM said. Not mentioned by XM was the status of 5 other models under FCC probe -- the Delphi SKYFi2, MyFi, Airwave, Tao and Roady 2 (CD Aug 14 p11). XM “is in the process of determining which of those radios it will submit for FCC approval,” a spokesman told us. Suppliers may need weeks to get units through the supply chain, Bank of America research analyst Jonathan Jacoby said Fri. in a report. XM likely will need to air-freight stock to assure stores have holiday inventory, he said. So there’s a risk Q4 subscriber acquisition costs will exceed projections, Jacoby said. XM conceded in its last quarterly earnings call it would take “a bit over a month” to begin filling the pipeline with compliant product once an FCC probe ended (CD July 28 p6). They said expedited-shipping costs were a necessary burden in getting radios to stores. Jacoby speculated XM’s newly compliant radios -- which drop wireless FM transmitters in favor of a wired fix -- could prove less popular with consumers because they'll need costlier professional installation.