Lenovo Group will open its first PC production plant in Whitsett, N.C., near Greensboro, U.S., s with operations expected to begin in 2013.
The company anticipates that the move will create 115 new manufacturing jobs in North Carolina, where the workers will build Think-branded notebook and desktop PCs, tablets, engineering workstations and servers for sale to domestic businesses, government and education customers, as well as consumers.
"Lenovo is establishing a U.S. manufacturing base because we believe in the long-term strength of the American PC market and our own growth opportunities here," said Yuanqing Yang, chairman and CEO, Lenovo. "As Lenovo expands globally, we are establishing even deeper roots in each major market. In addition to localized sales and marketing teams, in our major countries we are establishing an even stronger manufacturing footprint, investing in R&D and ensuring that we hire top local talent. This global reach with local excellence helps us become even faster, more innovative and more responsive to our customers around the world."
The new U.S. PC manufacturing line currently is under construction and scheduled to open early in 2013. It will reside within Lenovo's recently expanded 240,000-square-foot U.S. distribution center in Whitsett, N.C., approximately 10 miles east of Greensboro. Hiring for the 115 manufacturing and related positions should begin later this year.
The U.S. manufacturing line will be capable of turning out some of Lenovo's newest products, such as the recently announced ThinkCentre M92p Tiny desktop and ThinkPad Tablet 2. Lenovo believes that having a manufacturing capability in the U.S. can provide the capability to deliver products to customers even more quickly and reliably in many situations, while offering an even broader and more valuable set of PC-related services.
The U.S. PC production line is the latest investment in Lenovo's strategy to expand its in-house manufacturing capabilities around the world. Over the past two years, Lenovo has invested in new plants and manufacturing joint ventures in China, Brazil and now the United States to produce PCs and mobile Internet devices such as smartphones.