PORTABLE compact disc (CD) players have in the past several years become more popular in Myanmar among young and old people alike, vastly outselling behind-the-times portable cassette players.

“CD players have many additional functions that make them more useful and interesting, and we have been selling more of them than cassette players,” said Daw Phyu Phyu Aung, the assistant manager at the Panasonic showroom in downtown Yangon.

The latest Panasonic portable CD player, the RX-D29GU, sells for K99,000.

The company introduces a new model about every two years.

The showroom sells an average of about 20 to 30 portable players a year, said Daw Phyu Phyu Aung.

Sony-brand Discman CD players are widely considered to be the most innovative and trendiest on the market, loaded with multiple functions and sporting sleek designs. They retail for K5990 to K179,000 depending on the model.

Sony’s newest addition to the portable CD market is Atrac3plus software, which can store 490 digital music tracks, while equivalent MP3 players can only handle 180 songs.

“Although it can store many more tracks than MP3 players, the sound quality is the same,” said Ko Zawe Yan Bo.

“Atrac3plus is still new to the market so not many people know about it yet, but I think it will be well accepted soon” he said.

The Atrac3plus-equipped ZS-YN7 costs K149,000.

In February Sony introduced the ZS-8N130, a sporty model that was designed to be resistant to both water and shock. It retails for K179,000.

Among the special features available on Sony’s portable players are AM and FM radios, MP3 players, mega bass functions, sound equalisers and woofer systems.

“Sony is the only company that makes a portable CD player with a woofer function, which can produce sound quality similar to that from a hi-fi system,” said Ko Zawe Yan Bo, a sales promoter at the Sony showroom in Yangon.

The woofer-equipped CFD-G500 sells for K159,000. About 20 of them are bought a month, making it the best-selling of the Sony portable CD players at the store.

Sony offers one-year warranties for its products.

A less expensive and good-quality alternative to big-name CD players is the Enzer brand, which is based in Singapore but whose products are assembled in China.

However, the company does not offer warranties for its products.

An assistant manager at Wai Yan Electronics, which sells Enzer products, said the brand is popular because of its low price.

The Enzer GA1488D costs K45,000.

Technoland Computer Trading Co., Ltd. also offers Enzer portable CD players, the GA1488BB selling for about K45,000.

Technoland also sells Sony Discmans assembled in China. There are five models available at the store, which cost about K23,000.

U Ye Myint Maw, a supervisor at Technoland, said Discmans are also used by elderly people to listen to sermons without disturbing those around them. Many of these customers are Chinese monks.

U Ye Myint Maw said the store sells up to three portable CD players a day.