With global shipments seeing up to 20 percent year-on-year growth rates, MP3 players are still a strong product line after about six years since it first entered mass production.

Today, Greater China manufacturers account for the bulk of MP3 players being produced worldwide. Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan shared 52.21 percent of global production — with the mainland accounting for 23 percent, Hong Kong 18 percent, and Taiwan 9 percent — based on 2005 figures.

This report covers 54 MP3 player manufacturers: 32 from mainland China, nine from Taiwan, eight from Hong Kong, four from South Korea and one from Singapore. The aggregate 2005 MP3 player output of these companies reached 62.33 million units, or about 44.52 percent of global MP3 player shipments, in the same year.

Based on provided company data and research conducted by Global Sources, the findings of this report are:

•	Flash-based models continue to dominate the MP3 player product line, showing no signs of relegating its position to HDD-based units in the next few years. Companies that produce both flash and HDD units allocate about 20 percent or less of the output to HDD types.
•	The design trend is toward larger screens and more defined display types. The main types of display adopted by makers are dot-matrix LCD, TFT LCD, LTPS LCD, monochrome OLED and two-color- OLED. Sizes range from 0.6in to 3.5in.
•	Flash MP3 players with 8GB up to 10GB storage capacity are being developed. Mainstream products come in 128MB to 2GB models.
•	HDD-based players are available in 20GB up to 60GB versions.
•	Smaller form factors and multifunction designs also continue to be popular. Units integrated with GPS and Wi-Fi will be available in 2007.
•	The IPR issue is one of the biggest challenges for MP3 player makers in Asia. Makers with no licenses, such as that from Sisvel for MP3 and Microsoft for WMA, face legal risks in the EU countries. Another challenge is reducing production costs in order to release competitively priced products.
•	To address these challenges, some makers are investing their R&D in vertical integration aiming to develop their own MP3 player components .The move will free the makers from licensing fees and reduce their production costs in the long run.
•	In-house mold making and tooling capabilities are key differentiator processes in MP3 manufacture. Makers that have such advantage are more inclined to succeed in the highly competitive market.

The Industry Background section of this report provides insight on the industry In Asia and how the covered regions contribute to the global MP3 player supply in Asia. It identifies key production centers and describes the types of makers in these areas.

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All information contained in China Sourcing Reports is the result of exclusive, ground-level and definitive research conducted by Global Sources' analysts. Companies featured in these reports may or may not be clients of Global Sources.

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In this Report • 28 In-depth supplier profiles • 26 Profile tables • Product galleries for 150 popular export models, including 135 flash and 14 HDD-based MP3 players • Supplier Index