Ministry finds China's MP3 players below par

The Ministry of Information Industry (MII) revealed that about 66 percent of the MP3 players in the China market have defects. According to Xinhuanet.com, the MII examined 32 kinds of MP3 players manufactured by 32 electronics companies in the cities of Beijing and Shanghai and Jiangsu, Guangdong, Anhui and Sichuan provinces in 2006, and found that only 11 products met standards.

The remaining 21 MP3 players on the other hand have poor sound quality. The Ministry said the digital audio players failed to reproduce audible frequencies at the same volume at which they were recorded. Moreover, MII pointed out that the power adapters of some players did not meet national standards on safety and electromagnetic compatibility.

The 32 electronic manufacturers produced more than half of all the MP3 players in China.

As China gains more and more prominence not only in the manufacturing front, but also in the design arena, its efforts, particularly, in curbing piracy and delivering superior products has been scrutinized. China, however, reiterates, that they have countermeasures against piracy and other ill-manufacturing practices.