Guest post by Troy Riedel
I have badgered people I know – mainly this site’s owner, our friend Thomas. Question: does Eton still plan to bring the Elite Satellit to market?
Image Credit: Eton Corp
I’ve posted here before (in the Comments section of more than one post) stating “I’ll believe it when I see it”.
Last week I emailed Eton Corp and I flat-out asked them if they could provide a “status update” regarding the production of this radio and “do you still plan to bring [this model] to the marketplace”.
Moments ago, I received this email reply:
Hi Troy,
Thank you for your interest in the Elite Satellit radio. Due to the global shortage of chips and the backlog of delivery of materials to our manufacturer, it is taking much longer to bring this radio to market.
Thank you for your understanding and patience,
Esther
This isn’t very definitive … it offers very little detail, and no expected release date – but – it appears this project (proposed new model) has not been tabled, has not been canceled. Seeing as how it’s November 1st … Christmas is less than 8-weeks away – well, this would be a good time to ask the question because surely I would think an imminent release date would be best for business.
As such, I guess I’ll stand-by my comments over the past 18-months … “I’ll believe it when I see it”. The optimist in me is happy the reply wasn’t an outright cancellation of this gorgeous radio!
If there is anyone out there with more information, definitive information, I’m sure the SWLing Post Blog Nation would love to hear it. For now, I guess those of us interested will continue to wait. And those among us who still have doubts, this group “will believe it when we see it”!
I’ll stick with some version of “believe it when I see it”, but if it does come out, I’ll be happy to be proven wrong. (I won’t be buying one, though. I really don’t see the point, what with the long-dying HF bands. I’ll stick with my S-8800).
For what it’s worth it’s now showing up in the banner on the top of Eton’s page. It’s listed as “Coming in 2022”
I wish they would add 50 – 54 coverage to this radio. That would make it unique and special.
Frankly, I am shocked at all the shortages in chips affecting so many products. Hear me out…
How does it make sense, that all these manufacturers designed their products to use a component from a single corporate source?
Now, how does it make sense for that single corporate source would use a single manufacturing plant to produce that product?
In what management college course is this risk management technique being taught?
Back in the day it used to be, “Don’t put all your eggs in one basket.”
I emailed Eton again on 1/9/22 and received a reply on 1/10/22 saying:
” We are hoping to release this in February! Thanks for checking in.”
The response was from Julia Elkington.
The February 2022 ARRL “QST” magazine has the Elite Satellit shown in their big ad, along with their other products. They are still paying for advertising of the “unobtanium” product, if that gives one any hope.
I had prepaid ordered one through Universal Radio. I asked for my money to be returned when it became evident long delays were emminent. Then they went out of business, the owners retiring.
I emailed ten tec two years ago about when the new omni vi+ was to be available and got about the same response.
The reply that I received on 7/22/21 from Eton’s Julia Elkington was “Stay tuned on a launch date, we don’t have anything firm just yet but will update our customers as soon as more information is available.” Considering that some cars & trucks are in short supply because of the global shortage of chips, I’m not surprised by the extended delay. Supply & demand rule the marketplace so I would expect the new Satellit to list for $500 by the time it is released. Will it be as great as the E-1? I hope we’ll get to find out. In the meantime, I’m looking forward to another season of fine DXing! 73
Yes, I agree with what you posted “… not surprised by the extended delay”.
I’m sure some would argue that Tecsun was able to release new models, but without firsthand knowledge it’s hard to compare. I’m still not convinced we’ll ever see this radio. But I do believe – at this point in time -Eton still has the intension of getting it to the marketplace.
I hope this eventually does get re-released! I have an earlier model of this radio. It’s one of my favorite portables!
Guys, I suspect there’s more to the saga than the shortage of this or that.
They messed up the brand strategy a long time ago and can’t straighten it up now.
Eton, Grundig, Tecsun… who’s what or who has what market are a total chaos.
So, the product -which is not a zero-based launch- cannot be marketed.
Not ‘cannot be manufactured’.
My two cents.
..will this radio be on par with the Sony icf-2010..? Will it have AIR BAND……? If not, why bother?
Mike, I have one of the originals. With the exception of AIR band, it is one helluva receiver.
I love it. 🙂 Troy, I’m glad you circumvented me to get a reply from Eton! Now I know the status, too!
So I suspect it’s still in the plans only because I’m pretty sure they would have told you had the idea been shelved completely.
Yes Thomas, that’s my analysis as well. If and when we ever see it is another question left to be answered.