And that day back in 2016 I was pleasantly surprised to find brand new radio-cassette players on the shelves of a Jingkelong supermarket in Beijing. They had two Panda-branded models. Panda is a famous Chinese electronics brand, making everything from robots to consumer electronics , including several cassette and CD players.
The Panda 6300E model is a single-speaker system with a build-in microphone for recording, a fast-rewind function, and FM/MW radio. It works on 220v. Retail price hovers around 108 yuan. Panda also sells a twin-speaker model of the same system, designated 6311E, which sells for 169 yuan. T
The Panda F-135 model is quite funky, with a blue white color scheme. It is, again, a single-speaker system with an in-build microphone and FM/MW radio. The F-135 is marketed as a record player/playback system for junior high school student learning English, hence the hip design. It has extra buttons for fast forward, fast-reward, hold, and for sound adjustment. Unlike the 6300E , it works on battery power too, with a standby time of 120 minutes. Retail price is 138 yuan.
The odd thing is that almost nobody in China uses cassette tapes anymore. The last time I regularly saw tapes in shops in Beijing was around 2003. CDs are totally gone too. The consumer electronics market is overflowed with all sorts of digital recording devices, and almost everyone has a basic smartphone that can handle recordings and playback. So why is Panda still making them, even now, in 2021, when I am writing this? I honestly don’t know. Perhaps students down countryside still use cassettes, but even there I haven’t seen any for ages. I will try to find out more…