Sirius Radio Manufacturer Xact sues Sirius for $48 million

Just coming in over the wire:

-Sirius: Radio Maker Alleges Pact Breach, Seeks $48M Damages

-Radio Maker Alleges Sirius Withheld Info On FCC Inquiry

Sirius Satellite Radio hardware manufacturer US Electronics, publicly known as Xact, has sued Sirius for $48 million, saying that Sirius has not paid monies due, interfered with US Electronics establishing relations with other companies, and also that Sirius withheld information about last year’s FCC inquiry into the FM transmitters in radios.

Sirius, is claiming that its contract bars them from paying $41 million of the lawsuit to US Electronics due to limitation of liability provisions in the contract that was signed, and that they will fight this. The case will go to arbitration.

It looks like this could be the reason that US Electronics stopped producing radios last year, and also why a company called “Advanced Global Technology” started producing the Sportcaster for XM last year that looked similar to many of the other Xact radios, including the ReGo prototype that they designed for Sirius. While we have never confirmed it, Advanced Global Technology is similar to Xact, in that both websites never reference their parent company, and the radios are strikingly similar.



Comments:

  1. Well, if it's XACT or the clowns that made the S50, then we know the case lacks merit...
  2. Does the timing of this have anything to do with the merger?


  3. Quote:
    Originally Posted by xmastree View Post
    Does the timing of this have anything to do with the merger?

    That, or WMD's.
  4. Quote:
    Originally Posted by badmotherfarker View Post
    That, or WMD's.

  5. Quote:
    Originally Posted by zaj View Post
    Well, if it's XACT or the clowns that made the S50, then we know the case lacks merit...
    I'm assuming it's XACT, but why would such a case lack merit?

    EDIT: NM, don't guess it's XACT.
  6. Well then, if i were SIRIUS, i would fight right back. I would sue Xact for "Misleading the consumer!" (The ReGo...)

    Edit: I just checked Xacts website, They still have the ReGo up!
    O by the way, they make crappy radios anyway
  7. If they merge who will xact make units for then?
  8. Quote:
    Originally Posted by SiriusS50vr View Post
    Well then, if i were SIRIUS, i would fight right back. I would sue Xact for "Misleading the consumer!" (The ReGo...)


    that would never fly.. their are hundreds of working prototype products revealed that never see the light of day.
  9. Quote:
    Originally Posted by SISO View Post
    I'm assuming it's XACT, but why would such a case lack merit?

    EDIT: NM, don't guess it's XACT.
    I was just joking. Still, it just doesn't seem fair to have XACT, who hyped up the never-to-be released ReGo (and this hype was never actually sanctioned by Sirius), bring a legal action against Sirius. Those dumb ReGo rumors made Sirius look bad, and Sirius couldn't do anything about it.

    The XACT products that were released weren't that bad--they easily had the strongest FM transmitters of any satellite radio product. The Visor was super-powerful, as I recall.
  10. Quote:
    Originally Posted by zaj View Post
    The XACT products that were released weren't that bad--they easily had the strongest FM transmitters of any satellite radio product. The Visor was super-powerful, as I recall.

    lol, isnt that one of the reasons Xact is Suing SIRIUS, because of the strong FM transmitters? that doesnt seem fair if they produced the radios with the strong FM transmiters
  11. Quote:
    Originally Posted by zaj View Post
    I was just joking. Still, it just doesn't seem fair to have XACT, who hyped up the never-to-be released ReGo (and this hype was never actually sanctioned by Sirius), bring a legal action against Sirius. Those dumb ReGo rumors made Sirius look bad, and Sirius couldn't do anything about it.

    The XACT products that were released weren't that bad--they easily had the strongest FM transmitters of any satellite radio product. The Visor was super-powerful, as I recall.
    Supposedly it may have been Sirius who said not to release the ReGo, and it definitely was Sirius who ended the relationship with XACT.
  12. Quote:
    Originally Posted by SiriusS50vr View Post
    lol, isnt that one of the reasons Xact is Suing SIRIUS, because of the strong FM transmitters? that doesnt seem fair if they produced the radios with the strong FM transmiters
    I've gone through a lot of Sirius receivers, and the XACT ones had the strongest FM transmitters. By far. The old XACT ones had to be violating the FCC rules. By contrast, the newer Visors/Replays have FM transmitters that are just as weak as the ones on the Sportster 4, etc. So weak that they are worthless.

    Obviously, this is all speculation, but XACT is probably arguing that Sirius had some sort of duty under their agreement to inform XACT when Sirius became aware of the FCC investigation into the FM transmitter strength. If Sirius didn't tell XACT what was going on, and XACT kept cranking out receivers with the powerful FM transmitters that couldn't be sold in the future, then Sirius knew that XACT was wasting time, material, and labor costs.

    Sirius should bring a counterclaim based on damages from the ReGo debacle.
  13. ReGo still on the XACT site:



    Didn't someone on SBS actually get to play around with a model ReGo, and said it was great?
  14. Quote:
    Originally Posted by zaj View Post
    ReGo still on the XACT site:



    Didn't someone on SBS actually get to play around with a model ReGo, and said it was great?
    TulaneJeff had one, but it got so hot it was somewhat unusable.
  15. Wow is all I can say.
  16. I received two ReGo test units in the spring of 2005. The first one did run hot, but after swapping it out, the next version worked great.

    I have heard rumors that SIRIUS pressured Xact to hold off with the ReGo, and subsequently reverse engineered it. They kept asking for evalution units, borrowed much of the technology and then launched the S50. For some reason, they didn't want Xact to steal their thunder with the ReGo and wanted stores to have the S50 first. We all see how that ended. The S50 manufacturer, Humax, did a poor job with the quality.

    The ReGo was a beautiful unit, had great MP3 functionality via a flash card and live recording abilities to boot. The headphone antenna was so powerful, I could even get a signal indoors in the middle of our house. I've never been able to reproduce that reception with other SIRIUS radios.

    Xact/US Electronics was a great partner and had a bigger booth presence for radios at CES than SIRIUS did in 2004/2005. They went all out in 2005 with the ReGo, complete with Vespa giveaways and lots of friendly reps/models.

    It's too bad to see SIRIUS alienate a company that took a big risk at a time when SIRIUS was still gaining respect and market share.

    Jeff
  17. Quote:
    Originally Posted by TulaneJeff View Post
    I received two ReGo test units in the spring of 2005. The first one did run hot, but after swapping it out, the next version worked great.

    I have heard rumors that SIRIUS pressured Xact to hold off with the ReGo, and subsequently reverse engineered it. They kept asking for evalution units, borrowed much of the technology and then launched the S50. For some reason, they didn't want Xact to steal their thunder with the ReGo and wanted stores to have the S50 first. We all see how that ended. The S50 manufacturer, Humax, did a poor job with the quality.

    The ReGo was a beautiful unit, had great MP3 functionality via a flash card and live recording abilities to boot. The headphone antenna was so powerful, I could even get a signal indoors in the middle of our house. I've never been able to reproduce that reception with other SIRIUS radios.

    Xact/US Electronics was a great partner and had a bigger booth presence for radios at CES than SIRIUS did in 2004/2005. They went all out in 2005 with the ReGo, complete with Vespa giveaways and lots of friendly reps/models.

    It's too bad to see SIRIUS alienate a company that took a big risk at a time when SIRIUS was still gaining respect and market share.

    Jeff
    Well, given what Jeff just said, I take back everything I said about Xact.
  18. My first 2 Sirius purchases were Xact Visors, and are still in perfect working order. In fact, if it wasn't for Xact, I wouldn't have gotten Sirius as soon as I did. In December 2005, while holiday shopping in Best Buy, a clerk informed me of a promotion with the Visor. It was on sale for $45.00, and you reeceived a $25.00 Best Buy gift card. Basically costing only $20, I couldn't resist, and was very pleased with the quality of the unit and Sirius programming. When Martha was on QVC with another Visor promotion near Fathers Day, I bought another unit for next to nothing for my Dad, who is also very, VERY happy with the unit. Of course now I have a Stiletto, and a home unit also, but the Visor is used in my personal car, work truck, and office, every day, and has long ago paid for itself.

    It's dissapointing to see Sirius at odds with a manufacturer who has produced good quality units at extremely exceptional price points.
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