Alarms ring at speaker, wearables, TV makers on Chinese rare-earth squeeze

It’s not just electric vehicles, China’s export control licensing of rare earth metals is creating panic among speakers, wearables, and television manufacturers who are sitting on thin supplies of permanent magnets with the threat of production coming to a standstill looming large, industry executives and associations said.

Among the seven rare earth metals facing restricted exports, terbium and dysprosium are critical components in neodymium-Iron-Boron (NdFeB) magnets, or permanent magnets, which is the preferred choice for high-performance, portable and compact audio products.