Speaker Industry demographics

China has more than 1,000 suppliers of speakers, half of which are capable of making micro and Mylar types. At least a third of this group comprises foreignowned or -invested operations.

Manufacturers of micro and Mylar speakers are mostly located in Guangdong, Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Enterprises are drawn to these areas by the presence of several large providers of raw materials and some of the biggest IT and consumer electronic vendors worldwide. In the last decade, global production shifted to the mainland from the EU, the US, Japan, Taiwan and South Korea. This migration included major global players NXP of the Netherlands, Hosiden of Japan, ENG of South Korea and Merry of Taiwan.

A large percentage of mainland manufacturers have acoustic R&D centers and use advance technology such as CAD, CAT and CAM. Some still rely on manual assembly, although more companies are undertaking efforts to improve automation to enhance reliability and consistency. A growing number of enterprises are adopting fully automatic glue dispensing machines.

Many midrange and large suppliers practice vertical integration. This promotes efficiency and improves QC. It also lowers costs, which is a priority among enterprises given the anticipated climb in raw material outlay.