There is a rather nice write-up today in BusinessWeek on Sirius’ new Stiletto portable satellite receiver. I’m not just saying that because there are several quotes in there from me, but because it goes into good detail on how the Stiletto stands poised to keep the Sirius’ momentum going at a truly pivotal point in the market for the company.

With Sirius gaining ground in the aftermarket, it is also positioned to really drive forward in the OEM markets. For example, BMW, DaimlerChrysler, and Ford have upped their commitment to offer Sirius receivers across an expanding model line-up, while Sirius will become the exclusive Satellite Radio partner for VW come the 2007 model year, plus Sirius receivers will be factory installed in Nissan models come 2008.

All these elements coupled together with the intro of the Stiletto for this holiday season, gives Sirius the opportunity to strike when the iron is hot, at a time when XM is most vulnerable. With XM’s recent problems with the FCC, the SEC, its own investors, and its failure to purchase WCS, the only good news as of late must be that they just recently surpassed 120,000 subscribers in Canada.

Don't get me wrong, I’m not Sirius’ cheerleader. In fact I subscribe to both services and both companies have their merits and shortcomings. While we don't believe the Stiletto may be a “runaway hit” for Sirius, its loaded list of features, including Wi-Fi connectivity should attract a respectable number of technically savvy consumers. But for those who don't need it (or know how to use it), they can obtain the Stiletto sans Wi-Fi for $100 less than the Wi-Fi version. Who knows, perhaps it may become as popular as the SkyFi was for XM? Either way we do believe that collectively, these elements could narrow the subscriber gap between XM and Sirius and put them on equal footing as early as 1Q 2007.