Aaron Lee, Taipei; Adam Hwang

 

Dell will begin production at its base in Chengdu City, western China, in February or later in the first quarter of 2012, according to Taiwan-based supply chain makers.

Chengdu and Chongqing City, also in western China and away from the former by 2.5- hour driving distance, have been in keen competition for attracting investment from PC vendors, the sources indicated.

Taiwan-based ODM maker Wistron will kick off production at its factory in Chengdu, the sources noted.

China-based vendor Lenovo started operation of its production base and R&D center in Chengdu at the end of 2011, with the production base expected to ship 2-3 million PCs of which 60% will be notebook PCs and 40% desktop and AIO (all-in-one) PCs in 2012, the sources indicated. Compal Electronics, a Taiwan-based ODM maker, plans to hike the annual production capacity at its factory in Chengdu to 10 million notebook PCs in 2013, the sources pointed out.