Lenovo Expansion: Chinese Computer-Maker Company to Set Up PC Production Line Plant in U.S.

Lenovo Group Ltd, the popular Chinese computer-making company, plans on expanding and setting up a PC (personal computer) plant in the U.S. sometime next year. The world's second-most popular PC-maker hopes the effort will prove permanent, with a production line in Guilford County, NC manufacturing the company's signature Think-brand notebook (ThinkPad) and desktop personal computers.

A new Lenovo production line facility in Whitsett, NC would allow the computer company to become more responsive to U.S. corporate clients' demands for flexible supplies and product customization. The production line effort would also create approximately 115 new jobs in an area with high unemployment rates.

According to Lenovo's North American President David Schmoock, "[Us] having a [production] facility here in a home country is a differentiator that people will value." Schmoock also insists that Lenovo's incentive is similar to companies attempting to become more environmentally sustainable. "Being green is not necessarily the lowest-cost option for a lot of companies, but you do it because your customers and partners value you being green."

Lenovo is a nearly $30 billion company that employs over 27,000 workers globally. Approximately 2,000 Lenovo workers reside in North Carolina. More information on the Lenovo plant expansion will be released this afternoon (Tuesday, Oct. 2) when representatives meet at the U.S. headquarters in Morrisville, NC.

Lenovo's expanded production line will make the company stand apart from major U.S. rivals including HP (Hewlett-Packard), Dell Inc., and Apple Inc. (reports have it that none of these companies make personal computers in the U.S.).

Lenovo's new PC manufacturing line will cost about $2 million - it is currently under construction and is expected to begin operating early next year. Schmoock believes the move/expansion "reflects [Lenovo's] confidence in the U.S. PC market."

"Now we are big enough in the U.S. to justify this move," said Lenovo's head of global supply chain Gerry Smith, who believes the expanded production line complies with Lenovo's broader plan of localizing production in major markets as much as possible.

Lenovo has scheduled a press conference for 2:15 p.m. Tuesday (Oct. 2) at its Morrisville headquarters to discuss plans of expansion. Gov. Bev Perdue and a number of other public officials are scheduled to attend.