Sept. 17 – Dell Inc. plans to invest at least US$100 billion in China over the next 10 years as it looks to expand into the nation’s developing western regions and bolster its primary facilities situated along China’s eastern coast.
Dell said on Thursday that, in response to western China’s tremendous economic growth, it plans to open a manufacturing, sales and service center in Chengdu, the capital of southwest China’s Sichuan Province, by 2011. Dell estimates that its Chengdu base could eventually employ more than 3,000 workers.
“Our new operations there will better position Dell for additional growth opportunities in western China,” said Dell’s China President Amit Midha. According to the company, Dell currently commands 9 percent of the Chinese personal computer market.
The Texas-based computer technology company also said that is will add an office and as many as 500 workers to its chief operations center in Xiamen in the near future.
Dell currently employs approximately 6,000 people in the country spread across its manufacturing plants and other facilities in Xiamen, a design and engineering center in Shanghai, and a service center in Dalian.
The company spent US$23 billion in China last year alone, so the US$100 billion figure, although impressive, may prove to be a conservative estimate as Dell seeks to raise its market share against its chief competitors like Hewlett-Packed and Acer, who are also making inroads into West China.
“It makes perfect sense to set up a regional center in the hinterland city of Chengdu,” Steven Zhang, an analyst at DBS Vickers (Hong Kong), told Bloomberg. “All other major PC brands such as HP, Acer and Lenovo are also pushing for rural market expansion in China over the past couple of years. The US$100 billion investment over 10 years doesn’t seem to be blowing off the roof.”
